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.

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