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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

By the decade’s end, its developers say, the site will be home to a nuclear-fusion facility designed to subject weapons parts to the sorts of stresses they would experience in an all-out nuclear blast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

State news agency Xinhua said Chinese President Xi Jinping had urged "all-out" rescue operations, but did not provide figures on injuries or deaths.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

China's President Xi Jinping urged an "all-out" search effort, and promised stronger monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary impacts.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

That’s the mindset Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now confronting as he faces an all-out trade war with Trump.

From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026

To counter such negative impressions, prominent business people launched an all-out public relations campaign.

From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy

Take a lesson from Harryhausen’s terrible, incredible monsters; bring it all out into the light of day.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

When Shakeel holed out off Josh Tongue, any lingering doubts that England would not beat the fading light disappeared as Pakistan subsided to 194 all out.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

The 23-year-old Park, the only woman in South Korea's team of 36 eSports competitors heading to Japan, said she wanted to "go all out and have no regrets".

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

She revealed in May that her “immune system and digestive system got all out of whack” in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

“Some other nasty thing? Just—out with it, Edda. You’ll feel better when it’s all out in the open.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• full-blown
• full-scale