all the while

[awl thuh wahyl, hwahyl]

idiom

1. during this time; all along.

   She realized all the while that their plan would probably fail.

Word History and Origins

Origin of all the while¹

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

And all the while, scampering in circles ’round her, poking each other out of boredom and meanness, the two horrible children who could not stop tormenting each other long enough to see the beauty of any of it.

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They sang and they marched, and all the while, Penelope thought of her hair.

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Her imagination took leap after leap, and all the while she kept her eye on the clock.

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Lady Constance did, and blew her nose into it noisily, talking all the while.

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She sat on a rock and drank her tea, thinking all the while.

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