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• all-out
  all-out

  adjective

  using all one's resources; complete; total.
• all out
  all out

  With all one's strength, ability, or resources; not holding back. For example, They are going all out to make the fund-raiser a success. This seemingly modern term dates from about 1300, when it meant “completely” or “wholly.” It now refers to making a great effort and is also used adjectivally, as in an all-out effort. This usage became current in America in the late 1800s, with reference to races and other kinds of athletic exertion. In the mid-1900s it gave rise to the phrase to go all out and was transferred to just about any energetic undertaking. Also see go whole hog.

all-out

American  

[awl-out] / ˈɔlˌaʊt /

adjective

1. using all one's resources; complete; total.

   an all-out effort.

   Synonyms:

   unremitting, exhaustive, unstinting

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all-out British  

adjective

1. using one's maximum powers

   an all-out effort

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adverb

1. to one's maximum effort or capacity

   he went all out on the home stretch

all out Idioms  

1. With all one's strength, ability, or resources; not holding back. For example, They are going all out to make the fund-raiser a success. This seemingly modern term dates from about 1300, when it meant “completely” or “wholly.” It now refers to making a great effort and is also used adjectivally, as in an all-out effort. This usage became current in America in the late 1800s, with reference to races and other kinds of athletic exertion. In the mid-1900s it gave rise to the phrase to go all out and was transferred to just about any energetic undertaking. Also see go whole hog.

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Usage

What does all-out mean? All-out describes using all of your resources or energy to accomplish something, as in Talya made an all-out effort on her midterm exams. The related phrase all out usually follows go and means to make a total effort, as in Jamal’s parents really went all out for his birthday party, treating all the guests to helicopter rides! Example: The away team won the game because they went for an all-out attack on the home team.

Etymology

Origin of all-out

1905–10; adj. use of all out utterly, completely, Middle English al out

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

all-out all out

Ding dusted off the same all-out approach China had used to produce its first atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and satellites in the 1960s during a rift with the Soviet Union.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Inside China’s all-out push to catch up with American AI chips.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

The decisive question is how long Iran's leaders can preserve Hormuz as leverage without provoking an all-out war, renewed unrest or the construction of alternative routes that make the strait matter less.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

So are this week’s hostilities a return to all-out conflict?

From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2026

He waited just until he was hidden within their shadows before breaking into an all-out run.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

“The story I thought I was telling with my filmmaking, the stories of lives lived over decades, is now disjointed, confused — the reels are all out of order,” he says.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

And it’s all out in the open for public viewing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

The devastation from days of extreme weather has prompted President Xi Jinping to order "all out" rescue and relief operations.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

“If you took them all out and they went somewhere else, what would have happened?” said Jones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

With one successfully repatriated daughter, Papi might yank us all out of college and send us back.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• full-blown
• full-scale