all-or-nothing

adjective

all-or-noth·ing

ˌȯl-ər-ˈnə-thiŋ

: all-or-none

: accepting no less than everything

he's an all-or-nothing perfectionist

: risking everything

an all-or-nothing combat strategy

Examples of all-or-nothing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web An all-or-nothing approach to security simply doesn’t work. —

Tony Bradley, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024 The Los Angeles Dodgers are hanging by a thread after defeating the San Diego Padres, 8-0, in an elimination game Wednesday at Petco Park, and are heading into an all-or-nothing Game 5 unsure of their starting pitcher. —

Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 10 Oct. 2024 Your partnerships tend to be all-or-nothing — or rather, become possessive instead. —

Kyle Thomas, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2024 Advertisement The offspring don’t have to look far to see that if they are caught and extradited to the U.S., choosing to go to trial is a high-risk, all-or-nothing gamble that rarely ends with walking free. —

Keegan Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for all-or-nothing

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'all-or-nothing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1764, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of all-or-nothing was in 1764

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“All-or-nothing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all-or-nothing. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.

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