end-all

[ end-awl ]

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.

end-all

noun

1. short for be-all and end-all

Word History and Origins

Origin of end-all¹

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

On the contrary, it used to be the be-all, end-all of hip-hop journalism.

From The Daily Beast

But Zane is a living example of how the medical community is not the end-all of knowledge.

From The Daily Beast

But in terms of what is important for me as an individual, do I want gay marriage to be the be-all end-all?

From The Daily Beast

It was never classification, diagnosis, and nomenclature as the end-all of Botany.

From Project Gutenberg

He could have done better if he had enjoyed himself less; but was not enjoyment the be-all and end-all of this little life?

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

The partial statement of natural development takes the primitive powers in an alleged spontaneous development as the end-all.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg