all

all
   Used collectively to a group of people. ‘I’m afraid I really must be off’, says Jim Dixon in Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis, ‘Goodbye, all.’ A customer entering a pub in Britain is likely to greet those present with ‘Evening, all.’ All may also be added to a plural vocative expression to round it off, though such usage is now rather archaic. ‘Take your places, my dear friends all,’ says Zenobia, in The Blithedale Romance, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
   It is more often used in modern times as a prefix, followed by a noun, as in a call put out by a central radio operator to ‘all cars’. ‘All-stations’ is in Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming. ‘All you flies out there’, in Georgy Girl, by Margaret Forster, is addressed to a group of children who have been told to come into the room as flies by a dancing teacher. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, has a boy addressing a group of younger boys as ‘all you littluns’. A deeply religious man in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers, uses ‘all ye disconsolate and sore of heart’.

A dictionary of epithets and terms of address . . 2015.

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  • All — All, adv. 1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as, all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. And cheeks all pale. Byron. [1913 Webster] Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all so long, etc., this word …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • All — All, n. The whole number, quantity, or amount; the entire thing; everything included or concerned; the aggregate; the whole; totality; everything or every person; as, our all is at stake. [1913 Webster] Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • All to — All All, adv. 1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as, all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. And cheeks all pale. Byron. [1913 Webster] Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all so long, etc., this… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • All-to — All All, adv. 1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as, all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. And cheeks all pale. Byron. [1913 Webster] Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all so long, etc., this… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • All — All, a. [OE. al, pl. alle, AS. eal, pl. ealle, Northumbrian alle, akin to D. & OHG. al, Ger. all, Icel. allr. Dan. al, Sw. all, Goth. alls; and perh. to Ir. and Gael. uile, W. oll.] 1. The whole quantity, extent, duration, amount, quality, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • All — All, conj. [Orig. all, adv., wholly: used with though or if, which being dropped before the subjunctive left all as if in the sense although.] Although; albeit. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] All they were wondrous loth. Spenser. [1913 Webster] || …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • all in — {adj. phr.}, {informal} Very tired; exhausted. * /The players were all in after their first afternoon of practice./ Syn.: PLAYED OUT, WORN OUT …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • all in — {adj. phr.}, {informal} Very tired; exhausted. * /The players were all in after their first afternoon of practice./ Syn.: PLAYED OUT, WORN OUT …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • all — I. adjective Etymology: Middle English all, al, from Old English eall; akin to Old High German all all Date: before 12th century 1. a. the whole amount, quantity, or extent of < needed all the courage they had > < sat up all night > b. as much as …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • all — See: AFTER ALL, AND ALL, AT ALL, BEAT ALL or BEAT THE DUTCH, FOR ALL, FOR ALL ONE IS WORTH, FOR ALL ONE KNOWS, FOR ALL THE WORLD, FOR GOOD also FOR GOOD AND ALL, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE S HEART or WITH ALL ONE S HEART, HAVE ALL ONE S BUTTONS or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • all — See: AFTER ALL, AND ALL, AT ALL, BEAT ALL or BEAT THE DUTCH, FOR ALL, FOR ALL ONE IS WORTH, FOR ALL ONE KNOWS, FOR ALL THE WORLD, FOR GOOD also FOR GOOD AND ALL, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE S HEART or WITH ALL ONE S HEART, HAVE ALL ONE S BUTTONS or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

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