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Definition of "pell-mell" [pell•-mell]

  • In a jumbled, confused manner; helter-skelter. (adverb)
  • In frantic disorderly haste; headlong: "I went to work pell-mell, blotted several sheets of paper with choice floating thoughts” ( Washington Irving). (adverb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "pell-mell" in a sentence
  • "I ran pell-mell down the bleachers, forgetting about my supposedly sprained ankle, and grabbed the nearest fan."
  • "This was little more than a large house overstuffed with prize pieces salvaged during the pell-mell escape from the capital."
  • "The shortfall is widely blamed on the pell-mell panic inside MF Global to keep the securities firm alive long enough to arrange a sale."