holus-bolus

[ hoh-luhs-boh-luhs ]

/ ˈhoʊ ləsˈboʊ ləs /

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adverb

all at once; altogether.

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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

holster, Holston, holt, Holter monitor, Holthouse's hernia, holus-bolus, holy, Holy Alliance, Holy Bible, holy bread, holy cats

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use holus-bolus in a sentence

But whatever $54 million antibiotic the bolus of cash might produce will itself become useless after a year or a decade.
Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea, the ‘Sex Superbug,’ Is Not Worse Than AIDS|Kent Sepkowitz|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Experience is the grand spiritual Doctor; and with him Teufelsdrockh has now been long a patient, swallowing many a bitter bolus.
Sartor Resartus|Thomas Carlyle
Nor shall I tarry at the palace for the physician, but go straight on without bolus, simples or pills, a very Mercury for speed.
Under the Rose|Frederic Stewart Isham
Ordered a bolus with rhubarb and calomel, to be taken in the morning, and ℥ii.
An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses|William Withering

Nature, tenderest of leeches,—no bolus of hers is pleasanter medicament than her ruddy strawberries.
Mount Rainier|Various
As she had often done in her late illness, Zenobia opened her mouth at the word of command, and swallowed the infernal bolus.
Short Sixes|H. C. Bunner

British Dictionary definitions for holus-bolus

holus-bolus

/ (ˈhəʊləsˈbəʊləs) /

adverb

informal all at once

Word Origin for 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