all

1 of 4

adjective

ˈȯl

Synonyms of all next

: the whole amount, quantity, or extent of

needed all the courage they had

sat up all night

: as much as possible

spoke in all seriousness

: every member or individual component of

all men will go

all five children were present

: the whole number or sum of

all the angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles

: every

all manner of hardship

: any whatever

beyond all doubt

: nothing but : only

all work and no play

: completely taken up with, given to, or absorbed by

became all attention

: having or seeming to have (some physical feature) in conspicuous excess or prominence

all legs

: paying full attention with

all ears

dialect : used up : entirely consumed

—used especially of food and drink

: being more than one person or thing

I don't know who all is coming.

all

2 of 4

adverb

: wholly, quite

sat all alone

—often used as an intensive

all out of proportion

all over the yard

it wasn't all that funny

: selected as the best (as at a sport) within an area or organization

—used in combination

all-league halfback

obsolete : only, exclusively

archaic : just

: so much

all the better for it

: for each side : apiece

the score is two all

all

3 of 4

pronoun

singular or plural in construction

: the whole number, quantity, or amount : totality

all that I have

all of us

all of the books

—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

: everybody, everything

gave equal attention to all

that is all

all

4 of 4

noun

: the whole of one's possessions, resources, or energy

gave his all for the cause

Phrases

all the

: as much of … as : as much of a … as

all the home I ever had

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

Choose the Right Synonym for all

whole, entire, total, all mean including everything or everyone without exception.

whole implies that nothing has been omitted, ignored, abated, or taken away.

read the whole book

entire may suggest a state of completeness or perfection to which nothing can be added.

the entire population was wiped out

total implies that everything has been counted, weighed, measured, or considered.

the total number of people present

all may equal whole, entire, or total.

all proceeds go to charity

Examples of all in a Sentence

Adjective I've been waiting all week to see her. He had to walk all the way home. She works all year round. He'll need all the help he can get. Someone took all the candy. Adverb She has traveled all around the world. This money will be all yours when I die. She had buttons all down the side of her dress. I forgot all about paying the bill. The kids got all excited when they saw Santa Claus. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

There is a photo of Spanto by Carlos Jaramillo, standing in front of a waterfall of red satin curtains at the party, looking proud in his all-black suit embellished with traditional Navajo pieces by Thundercloud Jewelry. —

Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2023 Honigford played all 14 games (two starts) for Michigan last season, including the Fiesta Bowl CFP semifinal at State Farm Stadium and was also selected as an academic All-Big Ten honoree in 2022. —

Bob McManaman, The Arizona Republic, 1 May 2023 Carter started all 13 games last year and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention after recording 19 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and 12 total quarterback pressures. —

Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 17 Apr. 2023 Fila Fan For the first Murder Mystery movie, Adam Sandler sported a colorblocked Fila jacket and navy blue polo, while his co-star Jennifer Aniston rocked an all-leather look. —

Zizi Strater, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2023 One thing that is inked into the reality star's calendar: Hosting an all-female event Apr. 7 at this year's Miami Beach Pride. —

Lanae Brody, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2023 Comedian Jo Koy’s comedy Easter Sunday is the first Hollywood movie to star an all-Filipino cast. —

Melissa Magsaysay, ELLE, 16 Mar. 2023 Ellis opted for one as well, and 2022 Oscar winner Questlove reached for a black bow tie for his all-black ensemble. —

Ashley Fetters Maloy, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2023 With his all-Egyptian teams in place, Dr. Hawass is now accelerating excavations and discoveries at warp speed. —

Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Mar. 2023

Adverb

Britain regards its health service with reverence, demonstrated during the pandemic when people all around the country took to standing outside their homes every Thursday evening to clap for the NHS in a ritual gesture of appreciation to the service and its staff. —

WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023 O’Brien passes for 479 yards and four touchdowns, all to Walker. —

Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2023 That said, Rowland is all about a thorough cleanse. —

Akili King, Essence, 20 Sep. 2023 The sleek black bottles are a chic kitchen accessory all on their own, and made my otherwise boring sink area more aesthetically pleasing. —

Megan Schaltegger, Peoplemag, 19 Sep. 2023 While quarterbacks like Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow have all cashed in on extensions in 2023, no player has topped the total value of Mahomes’ contract with the Chiefs. —

Scott Thompson, Fox News, 19 Sep. 2023 The suit, which also claims alleges the defendants prevented Braxton and the all-Black council from discharging their duties, including changing the locks on the town hall and preventing them from accessing city documents and bank accounts. —

Howard Koplowitz | Hkoplowitz@al.com, al, 18 Sep. 2023 And the photo montage at least provides closure to whatever tiny slice of Winning Time viewership doesn’t know all about the rest of the Showtime dynasty, that Pat Riley (Adrien Brody) went on to win three more titles as Miami Heat coach and/or executive, etc. —

Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2023 Speaking of Greenberg, the passionate New York Jets fan, is also all on the Jordan Love bandwagon. —

Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 26 Aug. 2023

Noun

Or, use them as a catch-all for things like napkins and tablecloths. —

Hadley Mendelsohn, House Beautiful, 21 Dec. 2022 The Ultimate Controller, Pro 2, and Lite SE aren't so much meant as retro controllers as just good all-arounders, and so that's welcome for folks who enjoy games on Apple Arcade and the like. —

Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, 20 Mar. 2023 And, Celent said, ISO 20022 doesn’t have to be an all or nothing choice. —

Tom Groenfeldt, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2023 Freidrich warns against the assumption that cloud seeding could be a cure-all for western water issues. —

Gabe Allen, Discover Magazine, 27 Oct. 2021 Billy Simon thinks a higher unemployment rate may be the cure-all for inflation. —

Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 30 Jan. 2023 Ingles won’t be the cure-all for their offensive woes, but his further integration into the offense can be an ingredient in the medicine. —

Brian Sampson, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023 Kitchen drawer organizers are great for cutlery and utensils, serving spoons and forks, spatulas and other kitchen tools, and as a great catch-all for any of the smaller things that end up in the kitchen. —

Katie Melynn, Peoplemag, 12 Jan. 2023 Louisiana also wrote its own staffing rules, but more nursing homes there fail to meet expectations, suggesting that state rules are not a cure-all if they are not enforced. —

USA Today, 1 Dec. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'all.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English al, all, alle, going back to Old English eall (West Saxon), all (Anglian), going back to Germanic *alla- (whence also Old Frisian al, alle "the whole of," Old Saxon all, Old High German al, all, Old Norse allr, Gothic alls), probably going back to *al-no- or *ol-no-, derivative of a base *ala-/*ola- seen in compounds (as Old English ælmihtig almighty entry 1, Old Saxon alohwīt "completely white," Old High German alawāri "quite true," Gothic alabrunsts "burnt offering," calque of Greek holokaútōma), of uncertain origin

Note: Both the correct repertoire of comparable forms and a valid Indo-European reconstruction have been subjects of dispute. Perhaps directly comparable to Germanic *ol-no- is Welsh oll, holl "the whole, all" (with h- of secondary origin); the same base might be present in Old Irish uile "all, every," if going back to *ol-i̯o-. (Old Irish oll "great, ample" is probably not related.) Outside of Germanic and Celtic other comparisons have been suggested, as Oscan allo "whole, entire" and Lithuanian aliái (in aliái víenas "all, everyone"). As an Indo-European reconstruction, Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic) proposes *h₂el-nó- for Germanic and *h₂ol-i̯o- for Old Irish uile, though the assumption of ablaut seems arbitrary. Whatever the ultimate origin, an etymon restricted to western (European) Indo-European.

Adverb

Middle English al, all, going back to Old English all, representing adverbial uses of the quantifier all entry 1

Pronoun

Middle English al, all, going back to Old English all, pronominal use of the quantifier all entry 1

Noun

nominal use of the pronoun all entry 3

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1593, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of all was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Phrases Containing all

Cite this Entry

Style

“All.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

all

1 of 3 adjective

ˈȯl

: the whole of

sat up all night

: as much as possible

in all seriousness

: every one of

all students can go

: any whatever

beyond all doubt

all

2 of 3 adverb

: wholly, altogether

sat all alone

all across the country

: so much

all the better for it

: for each side : apiece

the score is two all

all

3 of 3 pronoun

: the whole number, quantity, or amount

all that I have

all of us

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

: everyone, everything

known to all

sacrificed all for love

Medical Definition

ALL

abbreviation

acute lymphoblastic leukemia; acute lymphocytic leukemia

Last Updated: 23 Sep 2023 - Updated example sentences

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all

adjective

adverb

pronoun

noun

Synonyms

Examples of all in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near all

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

Medical Definition