Meaning & use
hell's half acre
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Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformalAmerican
A rough, wild or hard-to-control place, or a remote area that is hard to reach.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase, often with all over or the whole of: all over hell's half acre.
Patterns
- all over hell's half acre
- in hell's half acre
Their dog ran all over hell's half acre before we caught it.
He lives out in hell's half acre, miles from the nearest town.
The old mining camp had a reputation as hell's half acre.
phraseidiominformalhumorous
Used in the saying 'all over hell's half acre' to mean in every direction or in every possible place.
Grammar: Almost always appears inside the idiom all over hell's half acre.
Patterns
- all over hell's half acre
Papers were scattered all over hell's half acre.
The kids' toys were strewn all over hell's half acre.
We searched all over hell's half acre for the keys.
Common combinations
- all over hell's half acre
- Leaves were blowing all over hell's half acre.
- out in hell's half acre
- They built their cabin out in hell's half acre.
- search hell's half acre
- We searched hell's half acre for that missing sheep.
- look all over hell's half acre
- I looked all over hell's half acre for my glasses.
- from here to hell's half acre
- The road stretched from here to hell's half acre.
Synonyms and how they differ
- the middle of nowhere
- The middle of nowhere is more common and neutral, while hell's half acre sounds more colorful and regional.
- the boondocks
- The boondocks is also informal and American, but suggests only remoteness, not wildness.
- everywhere
- Everywhere is plain, whereas the idiom adds humorous exaggeration.
- all over the place
- All over the place is the ordinary equivalent and carries no regional flavor.
Word family
Commonly confused: hell's half acre or hell's kitchen?
hell's half acre vs hell's kitchen
Hell's Kitchen is a New York neighborhood and also a general phrase for a rough, noisy place, not a distant wilderness.
Practice
My cousin's farm is way out in hell's half acre. What does this suggest?
Choose one answer.
Hell's half acre suggests a rough or remote place. It says nothing about the size, age or a city setting.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hell's half acre”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.