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
One of the performers, Nicole Daniels, recounts a visit from a largely Black and brown all-girls school, during which the students seemed surprised that this historical figure, who was a Sephardic Jew, could look like them. Ethan Fuirst, The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2022 The footage of Vladimir Konstantinov, both of his all-world playing days and compromised present day, is alone worth the view. Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2022 This week, Ohtani will be the main attraction of Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities, which will mark the unofficial halfway point of what could wind up being the greatest individual season of the last century, if not of all-time.Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2021 His all-or-nothing shot turned out to be a giant dud, flying over the green and across a road. Paul Daugherty, The Enquirer, 27 June 2022 His all-hands call did little to clear up those issues or quell staff fears about content moderation policies, the direction of the company, and if they will be forced to work from Twitter offices. Scott Nover, Quartz, 16 June 2022 It’s utilitarian, all-business, the opposite of exciting to shop for or talk about over brunch.Glamour, 30 May 2022 In general, all-metal and metal and plastic combo garden hose nozzles are superior to those made entirely out of plastic. Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 19 Apr. 2022 High school students in Long Beach began advocating for multi-stall, all-gender restrooms in 2018. Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2022
Adverb
Plus, fall is all about comfort and there’s no better comfort food than a salty, crunchy, ever-so-slightly chewy pretzel. Julie Sprankles, USA TODAY, 16 Sep. 2022 Being too precious absolutely kills any sort of creativity for me, so it’s all about trying to find the easiest way in and going with my gut. Dora Segall, SPIN, 15 Sep. 2022 But where the Gilmore Girls were all about speed talking and junk food, the Owens sisters (Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock) have a different sort of skill — magic. Debby Wolfinsohn, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2022 Community, Tuccio said back in July, is what The Bagel Shop is all about. Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 15 Sep. 2022 It’s all about fashionand not about fashion at the same time. Erika Ramirez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2022 Is this miniature gang war really all about an innocent man that was killed? John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Sep. 2022 The poll's director said the changing fortunes are all about independent voters. Natasha Korecki, NBC News, 14 Sep. 2022 The weather may be cooling down, but fall hair colors are all about warmth. Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 14 Sep. 2022
Noun
Collaborator Andy Gibb joined Newton-John on a cover that teased a tell-all with the Bee Gees heartthrob. Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 19 Aug. 2022 Unwilling to rest on the laurels of her viral Oprah TV special, Adele is reportedly leaning deeper into the documentary game, this time with a juicy tell-all about her current romance. Lauren Puckett-pope, ELLE, 16 July 2022 While nothing is a cure-all for burnout, the breathwork sessions enable participants to recognize their own stressors, encounter their limiting beliefs and develop new, empowering ones. Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 1 Aug. 2022 Air purifiers are not a cure-all for every possible air quality issue. Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping, 21 June 2022 Edwards championed liberal causes ranging from Medicare-for-all to LGBTQ rights and gun violence prevention while in Congress, eventually landing a leadership role within the Democratic Caucus. Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 16 July 2022 Bloys is used to having to compete with Netflix’s big spending on a myriad of content as the streaming giant attempts to be a catch-all for viewers. Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 July 2022 Even now, leaders in Washington are pushing ambitious new spending plans as the cure-all for what ails our country, while too many mayors and governors refuse to address the root causes for why people are fleeing their cities and states. Andrew Tisch, Forbes, 7 June 2022 Table of Contents Side Table From books and reading glasses, to mugs and tsotchkes, let this minimalist reading table serve as a catch-all for your reading creatures — because the best reading nooks feel lovingly lived in. Anna Tingley, Variety, 27 Apr. 2022 See More
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 ælmihtigalmighty 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