for good

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

for good

1. (idiomatic) In a way that is conclusive and final.

   A bad haircut is no fun, but at least you're not stuck with it for good; only until it grows out.

   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa‎, London, Volume 7, Letter 53, p. 200:

     […] she was dozing in the elbow-chair, having refused to lie down, saying, She should soon, she hoped, lie down for good.

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 26, in Treasure Island‎, London: Cassell, page 207:

     “ […] do you take it as a dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?”

   • 1971, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Famous Blue Raincoat”:

     Yes, and thanks for the trouble you took from her eyes. I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

   • 2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, New York: Norton, Book 3:

     He […] unbuttons the bottom of his jacket so the rumors can be dispelled for good: he no longer wears his double belts.

• definitively, for good and all, forever, once and for all, permanently.

• for keeps