whole megillah

Idioms  

1. Also, whole schmeer. Everything, every aspect or element, as in The accountant went through the whole megillah all over again, or Her divorce lawyer took him for the house, the car, the whole schmeer. The first term alludes to the Megillah, five books of the Bible read on certain Jewish feast days and considered by some to be very long and tedious. Schmeer is Yiddish for “smear” or “smudge.” [Slang; second half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

whole megillah

No, wait, he wants to buy the whole megillah!

From The Verge ● Apr. 16, 2022

Pride’s sisters and her father testified for the prosecution, and the whole megillah has estranged Pride and Warren from the rest of their family.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2015

At trial, and then in defending their victory on appeal, they went for the whole megillah: a broad ruling that marriage is a fundamental constitutional right for everyone, full stop, right now.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2012

But the Met claims that “Regarding Warhol: Fifty Years, Sixty Artists” is the first effort to tackle the whole megillah.

From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2012

"There's a whole megillah about being a straight man," he said.

From Time Magazine Archive

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