from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
All \All\, adv.
1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as,
all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. "And cheeks
all pale." --Byron.
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Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all
so long, etc., this word retains its appropriate sense
or becomes intensive.
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2. Even; just. (Often a mere intensive adjunct.) [Obs. or
Poet.]
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All as his straying flock he fed. --Spenser.
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A damsel lay deploring
All on a rock reclined. --Gay.
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{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.
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