as in head-to-head
in direct confrontation or competition
the two brothers decided to go mano a mano in one final match to determine who was the better tennis player
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Recent Examples of mano a mano
There was no mano a mano moment between James and Bryant.
—
Zach Harper, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
Zoë survived two blasts and one mano a mano confrontation with Beelzebub!
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
Though neither is exactly a revelation — in the sense that these talents were revealed long ago — each gets space for menacing monologues and mano a mano match-ups.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 4 Dec. 2025
Surreal and dreamlike vignettes, and some laugh out loud moments of levity, break up mano a mano scenes in that hut that test the intensity of Bean and Day-Lewis.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mano a mano
Zach Harper, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
Zoë survived two blasts and one mano a mano confrontation with Beelzebub!
—Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
Though neither is exactly a revelation — in the sense that these talents were revealed long ago — each gets space for menacing monologues and mano a mano match-ups.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 4 Dec. 2025
Surreal and dreamlike vignettes, and some laugh out loud moments of levity, break up mano a mano scenes in that hut that test the intensity of Bean and Day-Lewis.
—Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 19 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mano a mano
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mano a mano
Adverb
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City have never drawn against Bournemouth in the Premier League, which makes that stubborn streak an unusual wrinkle in this head-to-head.—
Sukhman Singh,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
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But this is a very serious feature upgrade for the new Android phones, and even more so for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, which will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone Fold this year.—
Janhoi McGregor,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
Adverb
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Visitors can watch humpback whales surface offshore, ride a tram above downtown, stand face-to-face with or even on Mendenhall Glacier, a river of ice flowing from the vast Juneau Icefield.—
Josh Rivera,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
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People are also interacting less face-to-face amid a rise in social media, which has made dating harder, some say.—
Janis Mackey Frayer,
NBC news,
14 May 2026
Adverb
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Perkins, who is CEO of Canva, addressed head-on the concerns among many who work in creative industries about the potential for AI to supplant human labor.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
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Figures of Crisis makes productive use of this commonplace idea by tackling it head-on and turning it inside out.—
Ara H. Merjian,
ARTnews.com,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mano a mano.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mano%20a%20mano. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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