all

¹all

adjective \ˈȯl\

Definition of ALL

1

a : the whole amount, quantity, or extent of <needed all the courage they had> <sat up all night>

b : as much as possible <spoke in all seriousness>

2

: every member or individual component of <all men will go> <all five children were present>

3

: the whole number or sum of <all the angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles>

4

: every <all manner of hardship>

5

: any whatever <beyond all doubt>

6

: nothing but : only:

a : completely taken up with, given to, or absorbed by <became all attention>

b : having or seeming to have (some physical feature) in conspicuous excess or prominence <all legs>

c : paying full attention with <all ears>

7

dialect : used up : entirely consumed —used especially of food and drink

8

: being more than one person or thing <who all is coming>

— all the

: as much of … as : as much of a … as <all the home I ever had>

Examples of ALL

1. I've been waiting all week to see her.
2. He had to walk all the way home.
3. She works all year round.
4. He'll need all the help he can get.
5. Someone took all the candy.

Origin of ALL

Middle English all, al, from Old English eall; akin to Old High German all all

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to ALL

Synonyms

whole, concentrated, entire, exclusive, focused (also focussed), undivided

Antonyms

diffuse, divided, scattered

Related Words

absolute, complete, full, lump, teetotal, thorough, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unqualified, utter; comprehensive, intact, integral, perfect, unbroken

Near Antonyms

deficient, fragmental, fragmentary, halfway, incomplete, partial

See Synonym Discussion at whole

Rhymes with ALL

awl, ball, bawl, brawl, call, caul, crawl, doll, drawl, fall, gall, hall, haul, kraal, mall, maul, moll, pall, pawl, Saul, scall, scrawl, shawl, small, spall, sprawl, squall, stall, tall, thrall, trawl, wall, yawl

²all

adverb

Definition of ALL

1

a : wholly, quite <sat all alone> —often used as an intensive <all out of proportion> <all over the yard> <it wasn't all that funny>

b : selected as the best (as at a sport) within an area or organization —used in combination <all-league halfback>

2

obsolete : only, exclusively

3

archaic : just

4

: so much <all the better for it>

5

: for each side : apiece <the score is two all>

Examples of ALL

1. She has traveled all around the world.
2. This money will be all yours when I die.
3. She had buttons all down the side of her dress.
4. I forgot all about paying the bill.
5. The kids got all excited when they saw Santa Claus.

First Known Use of ALL

before 12th century

Related to ALL

Synonyms

fully, all of, all over, altogether, clean, completely, dead, enough, entire, entirely, even, exactly, fast, flat, full, heartily, out, perfectly, plumb [chiefly dialect], quite, soundly, thoroughly, through and through, totally, utterly, well, wholly, wide

Antonyms

half, halfway, incompletely, part, partially, partly

Related Words

absolutely, categorically, cold, downright, hands down, plain, stone, stone-cold, unqualifiedly; basically, by and large, chiefly, generally, largely, mainly, more or less, mostly, overall, predominantly, predominately, primarily, principally, substantially; abundantly, copiously, generously, greatly

Near Antonyms

barely, hardly, just, kind of, marginally, minimally, scarcely, slightly, superficially; approximately, roughly, somewhat

³all

pronoun, singular or plural in construction

Definition of ALL

1

a : the whole number, quantity, or amount : totality <all that I have> <all of us> <all of the books>

b —used in such phrases as for all I know, for all I care, and for all the good it does to indicate a lack of knowledge, interest, or effectiveness

2

: everybody, everything <gave equal attention to all> <that is all>

— all in all

: on the whole : generally <all in all, things might have been worse>

— and all

: and everything else especially of a kind suggested by a previous context <cards to fill out with … numbers and all — Sally Quinn>

First Known Use of ALL

before 12th century

⁴all

noun

Definition of ALL

: the whole of one's possessions, resources, or energy <gave his all for the cause>

First Known Use of ALL

1593