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:
But this is Image Magazine, so I will fearlessly match our readers’ freak and suggest this wild set from Brain Dead with a trippy pseudo-camo all-over print.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025
"It was an aching sadness, an all-over weariness, a sudden disinterest in the world around me - in tennis, above all," she wrote.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2022
“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
Jumping around my room in an all-over IBS wiggly dance, feet kicking, he steps on markers.
From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord
The U.S. is still an economic behemoth with the most powerful military in world history and assets all over the globe.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
If your dishwasher didn’t clean the dishes properly, now you have to do it all over again, and waste precious time!
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
The fans are all over the place — it’s harder to get someone in small rooms, and you have to start off that way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Sadly, he's heard it all over before, as has O'Neill.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
“You should roll with us. We’re going to play a show. Natives from all over will be there, according to this guy,” Awesiinh says as he pats my shoulder.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
