in spades

in spades idiom
Considerably, in the extreme; also, without restraint. For example, They were having money problems, in spades, or Jan told him what he really thought of him, in spades. This expression alludes to spades as the highest-ranking suit in various card games, such as bridge, and transfers “highest” to other extremes. [Colloquial; 1920s]

Comments


Do you have more to add? Sign in to share your linguistic knowledge or observation.

Connect with Facebook