Idioms for all

Origin of all

before 900; Middle English al, plural alle; Old English eal(l); cognate with Gothic alls, Old Norse allr, Old Frisian, Dutch, Middle Low German al, Old Saxon, Old High German al(l) (German all); if < *ol-no-, equivalent to Welsh oll and akin to Old Irish uile < *ol-io-; cf. almighty

SYNONYMS FOR all

2 every one of, each of.
14 totally, utterly, fully.

usage note for all

Expressions like all the farther and all the higher occur chiefly in informal speech: This is all the farther the bus goes. That's all the higher she can jump. Elsewhere as far as and as high as are generally used: This is as far as the bus goes. That's as high as she can jump.
Although some object to the inclusion of of in such phrases as all of the students and all of the contracts and prefer to omit it, the construction is entirely standard.
See also already, alright, altogether.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH all

all awl (see usage note at the current entry)

Words nearby all

alkylating drug, alkylation, alkylic, alkyne, alkyne series, all, all along, all along the line, all and sundry, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others, all at once

British Dictionary definitions for for all

all
/ (ɔːl) /

determiner

adverb

noun

(preceded by my, your, his, etc) (one's) complete effort or interest to give your all; you are my all
totality or whole

Other words from all

Related prefixes: pan-, panto-

Word Origin for all

Old English eall; related to Old High German al, Old Norse allr, Gothic alls all

Idioms and Phrases with for all (1 of 2)

for all
1

Also, for all that. In spite of, notwithstanding. For example, For all her protests she still loved the attention, or He's too old for the part but he did a good job for all that. [Early 1300s]

2

for all one cares or knows. So far as one knows; also, one doesn't really care or know. These phrases are employed like a negative. For example, He can buy ten houses for all I care, meaning one doesn't care at all, or For all I know she's gone to China, meaning one doesn't really know where she is. [Mid-1700s]

Idioms and Phrases with for all (2 of 2)

all