all-over
adjective
covering the entire surface
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all-over
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all over
all over
Everywhere. The phrase may be used alone, as in I've looked all over for that book , or The very thought of poison ivy makes me itch all over . In addition it can be used as a preposition, meaning “throughout,” as in The news spread all over town . [Early 1600s] Also see far and wide .
all-over
Britishadjective
all over
Idioms
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Everywhere. The phrase may be used alone, as in I've looked all over for that book , or The very thought of poison ivy makes me itch all over . In addition it can be used as a preposition, meaning “throughout,” as in The news spread all over town . [Early 1600s] Also see far and wide .
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In all respects, as in He is his Aunt Mary all over . Charles Lamb had this usage in a letter (1799) about a poem: “The last lines ... are Burns all over.” [Early 1700s]
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Also, all over again . Again from the beginning. For example, They're going to play the piece all over , or Do you mean you're starting all over again? [Mid-1500s]
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Also, all over with . Quite finished, completed, as in By the time I arrived the game was all over , or Now that she passed the test, her problems are all over with . This phrase uses over in the sense of “finished,” a usage dating from the 1300s. Also see all over but the shouting ; have it (all over) , def. 4.
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.
See Examples For:
The shoes feature an all-over sandy suede, with gold and jade accents on the shank plate and outsole.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2024
An all-over skin laser treatment he's been having has reduced his skin age by 22 years, the greatest age reduction in any part of his body.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2023
“If you decide to make a big statement with an all-over colored tile, let that be the hero and think about how other elements in the room support that hero,” she says.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 13, 2022
It's the perfect, just-set icing on top of pastries, cookies, and cakes at your favorite bakeries — perhaps most identified as the all-over glaze atop petit fours.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2021
Her neck and wrists were bare, and her hair was a mess—a pile, an all-over glob of red curls.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
He was a hammer meeting a nail, traveling to the run down parts of towns all over America to shore things up — to entertain rather than win over audiences.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Keaton was a prolific home renovator, leaving her mark on properties all over California.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
“I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat,” he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
"This is Pocognoli's preferred system and he's had time to work with the system, it was just all over the place," Miller said on Sportsound.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
He’d just made Gingersnipes talk about her most painful memory—being called useless—then, like a blundering dolt, he’d made her feel that way all over again.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
