all

[[t]ɔ͟ːl[/t]]

♦

1) PREDET: PREDET det pl-n/n-uncount You use all to indicate that you are referring to the whole of a particular group or thing or to everyone or everything of a particular kind.

He felt betrayed by his mother, and this anger twisted all his later relationships...

He lost all his money at a blackjack table in Las Vegas.

DET: DET pl-n/n-uncount

All is also a determiner.

There is built-in storage space in all bedrooms... 85 percent of all American households owe money on mortgages... Germany, like all great nations, will not change its personality... He was passionate about all literature.

QUANT: QUANT of def-pl-n/def-n-uncount

All is also a quantifier.

He was told to pack up all of his letters and personal belongings... He was talking to all of us.

PRON

All is also a pronoun.

Molton Brown was the only salon producing its own shampoos and hair-care products, all based on herbal recipes... I'd spent all I had, every last penny.

PRON-EMPH: n PRON v

All is also an emphasizing pronoun.

Milk, oily fish and egg all contain vitamin D... We all admire professionalism and dedication.

2) DET: DET sing-n You use all to refer to the whole of a particular period of time.

George had to cut grass all afternoon...

She's been feeling bad all week.

PREDET: PREDET det sing-n

All is also a predeterminer.

She's worked all her life... He was looking at me all the time.

QUANT: QUANT of def-n

All is also a quantifier.

He spent all of that afternoon polishing the silver... Two-thirds of the women interviewed think about food a lot or all of the time.

3) PRON You use all to refer to a situation or to life in general.

All is silent on the island now...

As you'll have read in our news pages, all has not been well of late.

4) ADV: ADV prep/adv (emphasis) You use all to emphasize that something is completely true, or happens everywhere or always, or on every occasion.

He loves animals and he knows all about them...

There are an equal number of Chinese students at foreign universities all round the world...

I got scared and I ran and left her all alone...

He was doing it all by himself...

All around he could hear people calling out his name.

5) PRON (emphasis) You use all at the beginning of a clause when you are emphasizing that something is the only thing that is important.

He said all that remained was to agree to a time and venue...

All you ever want to do is go shopping!...

All I could say was, `I'm sorry'.

6) DET: in DET n-uncount (emphasis) You use all in expressions such as in all sincerity and in all probability to emphasize that you are being sincere or that something is very likely.

In all fairness he had to admit that she was neither dishonest nor lazy...

If the pool was open, we'd in all probability still be swimming in it...

In all seriousness, there is nothing else I can do.

7) ADV: v-link ADV adj-graded (emphasis) You can use all in front of an adjective when you want to emphasize a quality that affects someone or something temporarily. [INFORMAL, SPOKEN]

You've gone all chatty...

He came over all dizzy when he stood up.

8) ADV: amount ADV You use all when you are talking about an equal score in a game. For example, if the score is three all, both players or teams have three points.

9) ADV: ADV the adv/adj-compar All is used in structures such as all the more or all the better to mean even more or even better than before.

The living room is decorated in pale colours that make it all the more airy...

`How are you?' - `All the better for seeing you.'

Syn:

even

10) PRON-EMPH (emphasis) You use all in expressions such as seen it all and done it all to emphasize that someone has had a lot of experience of something.

Pauline appeared to have it all; a happy marriage, a comfortable home and beautiful children...

Here's a man who has seen it all, tasted and heard it all.

11) PHRASE: PHR with cl/group (emphasis) You say above all to indicate that the thing you are mentioning is the most important point.

Above all, chairs should be comfortable...

Social services departments must accept, above all, the role of the parents.

12) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use after all when introducing a statement which supports or helps explain something you have just said.

I thought you might know somebody. After all, you're the man with connections.

13) PHRASE You use after all when you are saying that something that you thought might not be the case is in fact the case.

I came out here on the chance of finding you at home after all...

The Social Democrats say they are ready after all to begin talks on joining a coalition government.

14) PHRASE: n PHR (emphasis) You use and all when you want to emphasize that what you are talking about includes the thing mentioned, especially when this is surprising or unusual.

He dropped his sausage on the pavement and someone's dog ate it, mustard and all.

15) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use all in all to introduce a summary or general statement.

We both thought that all in all it might not be a bad idea...

All in all, it appeared that a pretty depressing summer awaited Jones.

16) PHRASE (emphasis) You use at all at the end of a clause to give emphasis in negative statements, conditional clauses, and questions.

Robin never really liked him at all...

There were no roads at all...

Surely if the woman had any decency at all, she'd have withdrawn at once...

`Are you dizzy at all?' he asked her.

17) PHRASE: PHR n All but a particular person or thing means everyone or everything except that person or thing.

The general was an unattractive man to all but his most ardent admirers...

The plant will stand all but the worst winters out of doors.

18) PHRASE: PHR -ed You use all but to say that something is almost the case.

The concrete wall that used to divide this city has now all but gone...

He has been all but forgotten.

19) PHRASE: PHR n You use for all to indicate that the thing mentioned does not affect or contradict the truth of what you are saying.

For all its beauty, Prague could soon lose some of the individuality that the communist years helped to preserve.

Syn:

despite

20) PHRASE: PHR with cl (emphasis) You use for all in phrases such as for all I know, and for all he cares, to emphasize that you do not know something or that someone does not care about something.

For all we know, he may even not be in this country...

You can go right now for all I care.

21) PHRASE: V inflects If you give your all or put your all into something, you make the maximum effort possible.

He puts his all into every game.

22) PHRASE: PHR with cl, amount PHR In all means in total.

In all some 15 million people live in the selected areas...

There was evidence that thirteen people in all had taken part in planning the murder.

23) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that you are all in, you mean that you are extremely tired. [INFORMAL, SPOKEN]

`Have you eaten? - You look all in!'

24) PHRASE: amount PHR, PHR with cl If something such as an activity is a particular price all in, that price includes everything that is offered. [mainly BRIT, INFORMAL]

Dinner is about ₤25 all in.

25) PHRASE: PHR with superl (emphasis) You use of all to emphasize the words `first' or `last', or a superlative adjective or adverb.

First of all, answer these questions...

Now she faces her toughest task of all.

26) PHRASE: PHR n (emphasis) You use of all in expressions such as of all people or of all things when you want to emphasize someone or something surprising.

One group of women, sitting on the ground, was singing, of all things, `Greensleeves'.

27) PHRASE (feelings) You use all in expressions like of all the cheek or of all the luck to emphasize how angry or surprised you are at what someone else has done or said.

Of all the lazy, indifferent, unbusinesslike attitudes to have!

28) PHRASE: PHR amount (emphasis) You use all of before a number to emphasize how small or large an amount is.

It took him all of 41 minutes to score his first goal...

I'm just checking up on Kim. It'll take me all of five minutes.

29) PHRASE One and all means everyone present or everyone in a particular group. [OLD-FASHIONED]

Being in charge of the National Health Service reforms did not endear him to one and all.

Syn:

everyone

30) PHRASE: PHR with brd-neg, PHR adj/adv (vagueness) You use all that in statements with negative meaning when you want to weaken the force of what you are saying. [SPOKEN]

He wasn't all that older than we were...

He said it would not be all that difficult to reach a peaceful conclusion to the conflict.

31) PHRASE: cl PHR You can say that's all at the end of a sentence when you are explaining something and want to emphasize that nothing more happens or is the case.

`Why do you want to know that?' he demanded. - `Just curious, that's all.'...

`I had no desire at all to be a mother - I had a child, that's all.'

32) PHRASE: v-link PHR (disapproval) You use all very well to suggest that you do not really approve of something or you think that it is unreasonable.

It is all very well to urge people to give more to charity when they have less, but is it really fair?