tooth and nail

Ms Byrne said she had seen pupils in their final years of secondary school who could "barely read and write" and had had to "fight tooth and nail" to get support for her own child.

“Right now, currently, the Valley is just surviving, as is a lot of Los Angeles — just barely surviving and fighting for everything that they can, tooth and nail,” she told LA Progressive earlier this year.

We fight tooth and nail to keep this band together because we saw the way that U2 were.

“We’ve always had to fight tooth and nail for our place in this world,” the group said in a news release Wednesday.

"What's the purpose of life if what we're fighting tooth and nail to get away from is what finally hit us the hardest!?" he added on X.