/ ɔːl; NAmE / determiner , pronoun , adverb
■ determiner
1.
(used with plural nouns. The noun may have the, this, that, my, her, his, etc. in front of it, or a number.) the whole number of :
All horses are animals, but not all animals are horses.
Cars were coming from all directions (= every direction) .
All the people you invited are coming.
All my plants have died.
All five men are hard workers.
2.
(used with uncountable nouns. The noun may have the, this, that, my, her, his, etc. in front of it.) the whole amount of :
All wood tends to shrink.
You've had all the fun and I've had all the hard work.
All this mail must be answered.
He has lost all his money.
3.
used with singular nouns showing sth has been happening for a whole period of time :
He's worked hard all year.
She was unemployed for all that time.
4.
the greatest possible :
In all honesty (= being as honest as I can) , I can't agree.
5.
consisting or appearing to consist of one thing only :
The magazine was all advertisements.
She was all smiles (= smiling a lot) .
6.
any whatever :
He denied all knowledge of the crime.
•
IDIOMS
- and all that (jazz, rubbish, etc.)
- not all that good, well, etc.
- not as bad(ly), etc. as all that
- of all people, things, etc.
- of all the ...
—more at for preposition
■ pronoun
1.
the whole number or amount :
All of the food has gone.
They've eaten all of it.
They've eaten it all.
I invited some of my colleagues but not all.
Not all of them were invited.
All of them enjoyed the party.
They all enjoyed it.
His last movie was best of all.
2.
(followed by a relative clause, often without that ) the only thing; everything :
All I want is peace and quiet.
It was all that I had.
➡ note at altogether
•
IDIOMS
- all in all
- all in one
- and all
- (not) at all
- in all
- not at all
- your all
—more at above preposition , after preposition , end verb , end noun , for preposition , side noun
■ adverb
1.
completely :
She was dressed all in white.
He lives all alone.
The coffee went all over my skirt.
2.
( informal ) very :
She was all excited.
Now don't get all upset about it.
3.
all too ... used to show that sth is more than you would like :
I'm all too aware of the problems.
The end of the trip came all too soon.
4.
( in sports and games ) to each side :
The score was four all.
•
IDIOMS
- all along
- all around
- all the better, harder, etc.
- all but
- all in
—see also all-in
- all of sth
- all over
- all round
- all there
- be all about sb/sth
- be all for sth / for doing sth
- be all over sb
- be all that
- be all up (with sb)
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English all , eall , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch al and German all .