A hell or high water clause is a clause in a contract, usually a lease, which provides that the payments must continue irrespective of any difficulties which the paying party may encounter (usually in relation to the operation of the leased asset). The clause usually forms part of a parent company guarantee. It is intended to limit the applicability of the doctrines of impossibility or frustration of purpose. The term for the clause comes from a colloquial expression that a task must be accomplished "come hell or high water" that is, regardless of any difficulty.