all the while
Americanidiom
Etymology
Origin of all the while
First recorded in 1350–1400
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To spur them on, Mary Kay offered only praise, never criticism, all the while dangling gifts and the opportunity for reinvention.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
No trace, no proof of life, and all the while, the nation is informed of every twist of what mostly is not happening.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026
Larry is to spend the next week considering afterlife options, all the while worrying that he’ll be gone before Joan gets to the Junction, given that there’s no certainty with her illness.
From Salon • Nov. 27, 2025
Government borrowing costs have been rising all the while.
From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025
She jumped from her tree and ran, faster and faster, all the while feeling the witch's breath like a cold wind on the back of her neck.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
