end-all

[ end-awl ]
See synonyms for end-all on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the ultimate purpose, object, or conclusion: Money is the be-all and end-all of his existence.

  2. something that brings things to such an end or conclusion.

Origin of end-all

1
First recorded in 1595–1605

Words Nearby end-all

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use end-all in a sentence

  • Mere representation, therefore, is with him the be-all and the end-all of art.

    Theodore Watts-Dunton | James Douglas
  • The partial statement of natural development takes the primitive powers in an alleged spontaneous development as the end-all.

  • Fifteen-year-old Trix was in that stage when the Oxford examination seems the end-all and be-all of existence.

    The Fortunes of the Farrells | Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

British Dictionary definitions for end-all

end-all

noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012