all the marbles
Americanidiom
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the most or highest degree of what can be won, gained, etc.; everything that is to be had.
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(as for all the marbles
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(as go for all the marbles) to contend for everything in an all-or-nothing situation.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Now it’s a one-game series and it’s for all the marbles, and where better to have a Game 7 than the Garden?”
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
“I’m not there yet since it’s for all the marbles — just a heavier burden than an individual state call,” Mr. Wallace wrote in a text message obtained by The Times.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2023
Bills at Patriots: This one’s for all the marbles — or most of them, at least.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 25, 2021
It’s the Clemson Tigers versus the LSU Fighting Tigers for all the marbles at the “College Football Playoff National Championship.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2020
Dubs, an abbreviation of "doubles," means that you get all the marbles knocked out with one shot.
From Healthful Sports for Boys by Rochefort, Alfred
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
