All along

All along
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]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • All Along — (née le 17 avril 1979 ; morte le 23 février 2005) était une jument pur sang championne de course hippique. Courant surtout en Europe elle a été une des meilleures pouliches à la fin du XXe siècle. Élevée aux États Unis, fille de Targowice et …   Wikipédia en Français

  • All along — Along A*long (?; 115), adv. [OE. along, anlong, AS. andlang, along; pref. and (akin to OFris. ond , OHG. ant , Ger. ent , Goth. and , anda , L. ante, Gr. ?, Skr. anti, over against) + lang long. See {Long}.] 1. By the length; in a line with the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • all along — all the time I knew all along that he would not get the promotion. (from Idioms in Speech) from the very first, from the very beginning (it implies over a period of time or during that period ) Miss Boland is the daughter of a close friend. Thus …   Idioms and examples

  • all along — If you have known or suspected something all along, then you have felt this from the beginning …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • all along — all a long adverb from the time that a situation starts to happen: I knew all along that it wasn t his real name …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • all along — ► all along from the beginning. Main Entry: ↑all …   English terms dictionary

  • all along — index through (from beginning to end) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • all along — adverb all the time or over a period of time (Freq. 5) She had known all along the hope had been there all along • Syn: ↑right along * * * all along 1. Everywhere along 2. All the time • • • …   Useful english dictionary

  • All Along — Thoroughbred racehorse infobox horsename = All Along caption = All Along is one of the Ten sire = Targowice grandsire = Round Table dam = Agujita damsire = Vieux Manoir sex = Filly foaled = 1979 country = France flagicon|France colour = Bay… …   Wikipedia

  • all along —    If you have known or suspected something all along, then you have felt this from the beginning.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    If something has existed or been somewhere all along, it has been there all the time, from the beginning.… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”