definitions
  • synonyms

whole-hog

[ hohl-hawg, -hog ]
/ ˈhoʊlˈhɔg, -ˈhɒg /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR whole-hog ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective Informal.

complete and thorough; wholehearted.

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RELATED WORDS

across-the-board, broad, thorough, wholesale, comprehensive, radical, extensive, exhaustive, all-encompassing, uncut, uncensored, entire, full, outright, in-depth, intensive, full-scale, encyclopedic, sweeping, complete

Nearby words

whole tone, whole-body counter, whole-body titration curve, whole-cell vaccine, whole-grain, whole-hog, whole-length, whole-souled, whole-tone scale, whole-wheat, wholefood

Origin of whole-hog

First recorded in 1820–30

Definition for whole-hog (2 of 2)

whole hog

noun Informal.

the furthest extent; everything: With them it was whole hog or nothing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for whole-hog

  • Why did we buy into AIG and Citigroup when we could have actually bought Goldman whole-hog, for a cut-rate price?

    Our Crashing Portfolio|Duff McDonald|May 4, 2009|DAILY BEAST

  • He must be "a whole-hog man" or nothing, a Whig or a Democrat.

    The Life Of Abraham Lincoln|Ward H. Lamon

  • The "whole-hog men" would have none of them, and therein lay the distinction.

    The Life Of Abraham Lincoln|Ward H. Lamon

British Dictionary definitions for whole-hog

whole hog

noun

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

Idioms and Phrases with whole-hog

whole hog

see go whole hog.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.