as in causes
the most important part of something or the reason for something
He acts as if making money is the be-all and end-all of human existence.
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for be-all and end-alls
Noun
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Possible causes of senior suicide include social isolation, loss of personal freedom due to illness and fear of being a burden, according to the National Council On Aging.
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Those causes carried timeless moral weight that outlasted Gandhi’s assassination and Mandela’s nearly three decades of imprisonment.
Noun
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Both parameters were identified as the most important determinants of the fill factor at low voltage losses.
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In my own research on Ebola, SARS and MERS, my colleagues and I have shown that the speed at which infected people are identified and removed from the community is one of the strongest determinants of outbreak size.
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“Be-all and end-alls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/be-all%20and%20end-alls. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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