all the marbles
Americanidiom
-
the most or highest degree of what can be won, gained, etc.; everything that is to be had.
-
(as for all the marbles
-
(as go for all the marbles) to contend for everything in an all-or-nothing situation.
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.
“Now it’s a one-game series and it’s for all the marbles, and where better to have a Game 7 than the Garden?”
From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024
“But if I were to open up a jar and throw all the marbles, you’d have a hard time catching them all.”
From Salon • Oct. 12, 2019
With defense-minded Virginia waiting in the national championship game Monday, many online observers are already predicting that a Texas Tech win in this contest will result in an alarmingly low-scoring affair for all the marbles.
From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2019
“If we can make our way through competition on Sunday, qualify well … and match up in the final round for all the marbles, that would be a dream come true,” Anderson said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2016
After you have picked up all the marbles from the ground you will appreciate more highly the skill which a bird shows in the construction of its home.
From The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year by Beebe, William
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.
