allthe total entity of: All of us are going.; whole number or amount: giving it all awayNot to be confused with:awl ? a pointed tool for boring holes: The carpenter used an awl to make a hole for the doorknob.Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embreeall (ôl) adj. 1. Being or representing the entire or total number, amount, or quantity: All the windows are open. Deal all the cards. See Synonyms at whole.2. Constituting, being, or representing the total extent or the whole: all Christendom. 3. Being the utmost possible of: argued the case in all seriousness. 4. Every: got into all manner of trouble. 5. Any whatsoever: beyond all doubt. 6. Pennsylvania Consumed; used up; gone: The apples are all. 7. Informal Being more than one: Who all came to the party? See Note at y’all. n. The whole of one’s fortune, resources, or energy; everything one has: The brave defenders gave their all. pron. 1. The entire or total number, amount, or quantity; totality: All of us are sick. All that I have is yours. 2. Everyone; everything: justice for all. adv. 1. a. Wholly; completely: a room painted all white. b. So much: I am all the better for that experience. c. Used as an intensive: Then he got all mad and left. 2. Each; apiece: a score of five all. Idioms: all along From the beginning; throughout: saw through the disguise all along. all but Nearly; almost: all but crying with relief. all in 1. Tired; exhausted. 2. Games Staking all of one’s chips, as in poker. 3. Putting all of one’s available resources into an effort: The governor mounted a halfhearted campaign for the presidency but didn’t go all in. all in all Everything being taken into account: All in all, the criticism seemed fair. all of Informal Not more than: a conversation that took all of five minutes. all one Of no difference; immaterial: Whether we go out or stay in, it’s all one to me. all over 1. Completely ended or finished: Their marriage is all over. 2. In every part; everywhere: The storm swept across the island and left damage all over. 3. Typical of the person or thing just mentioned: Making wisecracks like that?that’s Jim all over. 4. Showing much romantic interest or being in close contact: He was all over her during the slow dance. 5. Persistently or harshly critical or scolding: The coach was all over me about missing practice. all out With all one’s strength, ability, or resources. all that Informal To the degree expected. all there Mentally unimpaired or competent. all told With everything considered; in all: All told, we won 100 games. and all 1. And other things of the same type: “The only thing they seemed to have in common was their cowboy gear, ten-gallon hats and all” (Edward Chen). 2. Being included: devoured the peanuts, shells and all. at all 1. In any way: unable to walk at all. 2. To any extent; whatever: not at all sorry. be all Informal To say or utter. Used chiefly in verbal narration: He’s all, “What did you do that for?” in all Considering everything; all together: In all, it rained for two hours. I bought four hats, in all. [Middle English al, from Old English eall; see al-3 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Usage Note: The construction all that is used informally in questions and negative sentences to mean “to the degree expected.” In the late 1960s, the Usage Panel rejected its use, but resistance to all that has waned dramatically. In our 2016 survey, 87 percent of the Panel found the construction acceptable in the sentence The movie is not all that interesting. Some stigma lingers, however; many of the Panelists who accepted this example sentence commented that this use of all that would be much less acceptable in formal writing than in colloquial speech. · Sentences of the form All X’s are not Y may be ambiguous. All of the departments did not file a report may mean that some departments did not file, or that none did. The first meaning can be expressed unambiguously by the sentence Not all of the departments filed a report. The second meaning can be more clearly phrased as None of the departments filed a report or All of the departments failed to file a report. The same problem can arise with other universal terms such as every in negated sentences, as in the ambiguous Every department did not file a report. See Usage Note at every.Word History: In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, groups of immigrants from southwestern Germany, Alsace, and Switzerland settled in Pennsylvania. The groups spoke closely related dialects of German that eventually merged into a new, distinctly American variety of German that came to be known as Pennsylvania Dutch. (The word Dutch in this expression comes from Deitsch, the Pennsylvania German equivalent of Deutsch, the standard German word for “German.” The spelling of the word as Dutch has undoubtedly been influenced by the English word Dutch. English Dutch comes from the Middle Dutch word D?tsch, meaning “Dutch” or “German,” that is the Dutch equivalent of the German word Deutsch.) Pennsylvania Dutch, which is still spoken in some communities in Pennsylvania today?notably by the Amish?has contributed a number of words to American English, including dunk, hex, smearcase, snollygoster, spritz, and perhaps snickerdoodle. The dialect has also left other traces in the grammar and usage of English in Pennsylvania. For instance, in German, the word alle, literally meaning “all,” can be used idiomatically to mean “all gone, used up, at an end.” The standard German sentence Der Kaffee ist alle (word for word, “The coffee is all”) means “The coffee is all gone” or “The coffee has been used up,” for example. Some Pennsylvanians, too, may say The coffee is all to mean “The coffee is all gone”?the use of the English word all to mean “all gone” reflects the influence of Pennsylvania Dutch and reminds us of the days when many Pennsylvanians were bilingual in English and Pennsylvania Dutch and would switch back and forth between them in their daily lives. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.all (??l) determiner1. a. the whole quantity or amount of; totality of; every one of a class: all the rice; all men are mortal. b. (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): all of it is nice; all are welcome. c. (in combination with a noun used as a modifier): an all-ticket match; an all-amateur tournament; an all-night sitting. 2. the greatest possible: in all earnestness. 3. any whatever: to lose all hope of recovery; beyond all doubt. 4. above all most of all; especially5. after all See after116. all along all the time7. all but almost; nearly: all but dead. 8. all of no less or smaller than: she’s all of thirteen years. 9. all over a. finished; at an end: the affair is all over between us. b. over the whole area (of something); everywhere (in, on, etc): all over England. c. typically; representatively (in the phrase that’s me (you, him, us, them,etc) all over). Also (Irish): all out d. unduly effusive towardse. sport in a dominant position over10. See all in11. all in all a. everything considered: all in all, it was a great success. b. the object of one’s attention or interest: you are my all in all. 12. all that that (usually used with a negative) informal (intensifier): she’s not all that intelligent. 13. all the (foll by a comparative adjective or adverb) so much (more or less) than otherwise: we must work all the faster now. 14. all too definitely but regrettably: it’s all too true. 15. and all a. Brit informal as well; too: and you can take that smile off your face and all. b. South African a parenthetical filler phrase used at the end of a statement to make a slight pause in speaking16. and all that informal a. and similar or associated things; et cetera: coffee, tea, and all that will be served in the garden. b. used as a filler or to make what precedes more vague: in this sense, it often occurs with concessive force: she was sweet and pretty and all that, but I still didn’t like her. c. See that417. as all that as one might expect or hope: she’s not as pretty as all that, but she has personality. 18. at all a. (used with a negative or in a question) in any way whatsoever or to any extent or degree: I didn’t know that at all. b. even so; anyway: I’m surprised you came at all. 19. be all for informal to be strongly in favour of20. be all that informal chiefly US to be exceptionally good, talented, or attractive21. for all a. in so far as; to the extent that: for all anyone knows, he was a baron. b. notwithstanding: for all my pushing, I still couldn’t move it. 22. for all that in spite of that: he was a nice man for all that. 23. in all altogether: there were five of them in all. adv24. (General Sporting Terms) (in scores of games) apiece; each: the score at half time was three all. 25. completely: all alone. 26. be all ? informal used for emphasis when introducing direct speech or nonverbal communication: he was all, ‘I’m not doing that’. n27. (preceded by: my, your, his, etc) (one’s) complete effort or interest: to give your all; you are my all. 28. totality or whole[Old English eall; related to Old High German al, Old Norse allr, Gothic alls all]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014all (?l) adj. 1. the whole or full amount of: all the cake; all year. 2. the whole number of: all students; all kinds. 3. the greatest possible: with all speed. 4. any; any whatever: beyond all doubt. 5. entirely; purely: The coat is all wool. 6. dominated by a particular feature: The colt was all legs. 7. Pennsylvania German Area. consumed; finished: The pie is all. pron. 8. the whole quantity or amount: Did you eat all of the peanuts? 9. the whole number; every one: all of us. 10. everything: Is that all you’ve got to say? n. 11. one’s whole interest, energy, or property: Give it your all. 12. the entire area, place, environment, or the like: all is calm. adv. 13. wholly; entirely: all alone; all for a better government. 14. each; apiece: The score was one all. Idioms: 1. all but, almost; very nearly: These batteries are all but dead. 2. all in, very tired; exhausted. 3. all in all, everything considered; in general: All in all, her health is improved. 4. all out, energetically and enthusiastically: to go all out to win the game. 5. all the better, so much the better. 6. all there, mentally competent. 7. and all, and so forth: What with the late hour and all, we must leave. 8. at all, a. in the slightest degree. b. for any reason: Why bother at all? 9. for all (that), in spite of (that); notwithstanding: For all that, it was a good year. 10. in all, all included; all together. 11. as all get-out, Informal. to an extreme degree, condition, etc. [before 900; Middle English al, pl. alle; Old English eal(l), c. Old Frisian al, Old Saxon, Old High German al(l), Old Norse allr, Gothic alls] usage: 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: as far as the bus goes; as high as she can jump. The construction all of (all of the students; all of the contracts) is entirely standard. Some people object to it, however, and omit the of. See also already, alright, altogether. all- var. of allo- before a vowel: allonym. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.all1. used as a determinerYou use all immediately in front of the plural form of a noun to talk about every thing or person of a particular kind. When you use all in front of the plural form of a noun, you use a plural form of a verb after it.You can use all immediately in front of an uncountable noun when you are making a general statement about something. When you use all in front of an uncountable noun, you use a singular form of a verb after it.If you want to say something about every thing or person in a group, you use all or all of, followed by the, these, those, or a possessive determiner, followed by the plural form of a noun.If you want to say something about the whole of a particular thing, you use all or all of, followed by the, this, that, or a possessive determiner, followed by an uncountable noun or the singular form of a countable noun.You can use all or all of in front of the pronouns this, that, these, and those.However, in front of personal pronouns you must use all of. Don’t use ‘all’.Don’t use ‘we’ or ‘they’ after all of. Instead you use us or them.All can also be used after the subject of a clause. For example, instead of saying ‘All our friends came’, you can say ‘Our friends all came’.When there is no auxiliary verb, all goes in front of the verb, unless the verb is be.If the verb is be, all goes after be.If there is an auxiliary verb, you put all after it.If there is more than one auxiliary verb, you put all after the first one.All can also come after the direct or indirect object of a verb when this object is a personal pronoun.All can be a pronoun meaning ‘everything’ or ‘the only thing’. It is often used like this in front of a relative clause.Every has a similar meaning to all. ‘Every teacher was at the meeting’ means the same as ‘All the teachers were at the meeting’.However, there is a difference between all and every when you use them with expressions of time. For example, if you spend all day doing something, you spend the whole of one day doing it. If you do something every day, you keep doing it each day.