Word of the Day

: September 1, 2009

holus-bolus

adverb hoh-lus-BOH-lus

What It Means

: all at once

holus-bolus in Context

Incredibly, the company shuttered its factory holus-bolus, with no regard for the livelihoods of the men and women working there.

Did You Know?

The story of "holus-bolus" is not a hard one to swallow. "Holus-bolus" originated in English dialect in the mid-19th century and is believed to be a waggish reduplication of the word "bolus." "Bolus" is from the Greek word "bolos," meaning "lump," and has retained that Greek meaning. In English, "bolus" has additionally come to mean "a large pill," "a mass of chewed food," or "a dose of a drug given intravenously." Considering this "lumpish" history, it's not hard to see how "holus-bolus," a word meaning "all at once" or "all in a lump," came about.