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definitions

holus-bolus

[hoh-luh s-boh-luh s]
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adverb

all at once; altogether.

Origin of holus-bolus

1840–50; mock-Latin rhyming compound based on phrase whole bolus. See whole, bolus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for holus-bolus

Historical Examples of holus-bolus

  • They had just killed the animal, and were roasting it whole, holus-bolus, unskinned and undressed.

    Spinifex and Sand

    David W Carnegie

  • Holus-bolus, 'sicut examen apum,' ye decamp at the word of a single foe!

    The Day of Wrath

    Maurus Jkai

  • There was a first-class carr'ge door opin right forninst me, an' into that the gyard crams me holus-bolus.

British Dictionary definitions for holus-bolus

holus-bolus

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