holus-bolus

[ hoh-luhs-boh-luhs ]

adverb

all at once; altogether.

Origin of holus-bolus

First recorded in 1840–50; mock-Latin rhyming compound based on the phrase whole bolus, or possibly a Latinization of Greek hólos bôlos “whole lump, clod of earth, nugget”; see origin at whole, bolus

Words Nearby holus-bolus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use holus-bolus in a sentence

holus-bolus, 'sicut examen apum,' ye decamp at the word of a single foe!
The Day of Wrath | Maurus Jkai
They had just killed the animal, and were roasting it whole, holus-bolus, unskinned and undressed.
Spinifex and Sand | David W Carnegie
His district was infested with blacks, so he plunged holus-bolus into their private affairs.
A Crime of the Under-seas | Guy Boothby
Each train was unloaded as it arrived and its contents thrown holus-bolus into one of the holds, except for the wheeled vehicles.
The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry | D. D. Ogilvie
There was a first-class carr'ge door opin right forninst me, an' into that the gyard crams me holus-bolus.
Martin Hewitt, Investigator | Arthur Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for holus-bolus

holus-bolus

/ (ˈhəʊləsˈbəʊləs) /

adverb

informal all at once

Origin of holus-bolus

C19: pseudo-Latin based on whole bolus; see bolus

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

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