catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  All \All\, adv.
     1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as,
        all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. ``And cheeks
        all pale.'' --Byron.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all
           so long, etc., this word retains its appropriate sense
           or becomes intensive.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Even; just. (Often a mere intensive adjunct.) [Obs. or
        Poet.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All as his straying flock he fed.     --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A damsel lay deploring
              All on a rock reclined.               --Gay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     All to, or All-to. In such phrases as ``all to rent,''
        ``all to break,'' ``all-to frozen,'' etc., which are of
        frequent occurrence in our old authors, the all and the to
        have commonly been regarded as forming a compound adverb,
        equivalent in meaning to entirely, completely, altogether.
        But the sense of entireness lies wholly in the word all
        (as it does in ``all forlorn,'' and similar expressions),
        and the to properly belongs to the following word, being a
        kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and
        answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer-). It is frequently to
        be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus
        Wyclif says, ``The vail of the temple was to rent:'' and
        of Judas, ``He was hanged and to-burst the middle:'' i.
        e., burst in two, or asunder.
  
     All along. See under Along.
  
     All and some, individually and collectively, one and all.
        [Obs.] ``Displeased all and some.'' --Fairfax.
  
     All but.
        (a) Scarcely; not even. [Obs.] --Shak.
        (b) Almost; nearly. ``The fine arts were all but
            proscribed.'' --Macaulay.
  
     All hollow, entirely, completely; as, to beat any one all
        hollow. [Low]
  
     All one, the same thing in effect; that is, wholly the same
        thing.
  
     All over, over the whole extent; thoroughly; wholly; as,
        she is her mother all over. [Colloq.]
  
     All the better, wholly the better; that is, better by the
        whole difference.
  
     All the same, nevertheless. ``There they [certain
        phenomena] remain rooted all the same, whether we
        recognize them or not.'' --J. C. Shairp. ``But Rugby is a
        very nice place all the same.'' --T. Arnold. -- See also
        under All, n.
        [1913 Webster]

  
  
     Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all
           so long, etc., this word retains its appropriate sense
           or becomes intensive.
  
     2. Even; just. (Often a mere intensive adjunct.) [Obs. or
        Poet.]
  
              All as his straying flock he fed.     --Spenser.
  
              A damsel lay deploring All on a rock reclined.
                                                    --Gay.
  
     All to, or All-to. In such phrases as ``all to rent,''
        ``all to break,'' ``all-to frozen,'' etc., which are of
        frequent occurrence in our old authors, the all and the to
        have commonly been regarded as forming a compound adverb,
        equivalent in meaning to entirely, completely, altogether.
        But the sense of entireness lies wholly in the word all
        (as it does in ``all forlorn,'' and similar expressions),
        and the to properly belongs to the following word, being a
        kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and
        answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer-). It is frequently to
        be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus
        Wyclif says, ``The vail of the temple was to rent:'' and
        of Judas, ``He was hanged and to-burst the middle:'' i.
        e., burst in two, or asunder.
  
     All along. See under Along.
  
     All and some, individually and collectively, one and all.
        [Obs.] ``Displeased all and some.'' --Fairfax.
  
     All but.
        (a) Scarcely; not even. [Obs.] --Shak.
        (b) Almost; nearly. ``The fine arts were all but
            proscribed.'' --Macaulay.
  
     All hollow, entirely, completely; as, to beat any one all
        hollow. [Low]
  
     All one, the same thing in effect; that is, wholly the same
        thing.
  
     All over, over the whole extent; thoroughly; wholly; as,
        she is her mother all over. [Colloq.]
  
     All the better, wholly the better; that is, better by the
        whole difference.
  
     All the same, nevertheless. ``There they [certain
        phenomena] remain rooted all the same, whether we
        recognize them or not.'' --J. C. Shairp. ``But Rugby is a
        very nice place all the same.'' --T. Arnold. -- See also
        under All, n.