whole hog

American  

[hohl hawg, hog] / ˈhoʊl ˈhɔg, ˈhɒg /

noun

1. the furthest extent; everything.

   With them it was whole hog or nothing.

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adjective

1. Usually whole-hog complete and thorough; wholehearted.

   Any whole-hog endorsement of the doctrine would leave its proponent overexposed to counterarguments.

adverb

1. completely; wholeheartedly.

   I've long hated this idea that you can't just jump whole hog into radical feminism.

idioms

1. go the whole hog, to do something to the fullest extent; proceed with or indulge in something completely and unreservedly: Also go whole hog

   The townspeople went the whole hog for the celebration.

whole hog British  

noun

1. slang the whole or total extent (esp in the phrase go the whole hog )

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whole hog More Idioms  

1. see go whole hog.

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Etymology

Origin of whole hog

An Americanism dating back to 1825–30

Example Sentences

One of the first was going whole hog into native plants without understanding anything about them.

From Los Angeles Times

May went whole hog with the budget.

From Los Angeles Times

With over $150,000 in prize money to be awarded, 129 cooking teams from 22 states and four foreign countries are competing in one of three main categories of ribs, shoulder and whole hog.

From Seattle Times

“My chief concern now is that we don’t allow the studios to go whole hog and destroy this beautiful thing that we’ve got all of a sudden,” Cargill said.

From Los Angeles Times

With three young kids and soaring meat costs, Logan Wagoner decided it was time to go whole hog.

From Washington Post