What does "all" mean?
Everything that one is capable of.
All
/ɔːl/ adj, adv, conj, det, noun, pron
adj, adv, conj, det, noun, pron ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Everything that one is capable of.
- Grammar: all is listed as adj, adv, conj, det, noun, pron.
- Nearest alternatives: a to izzard, a to z, acme, across the board.
- Useful contrasts: certain benefit, effective mode of communication, no.
- Usage evidence: All you can do is trust one another.
How to use "all"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "all" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "all" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "all" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "all" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "all" is acting as adj, adv, conj, det, noun, pron in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a to izzard" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "all", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Everything that one is capable of. countable, uncountable
"She gave her all, and collapsed at the finish line."
- 2 Initialism of anterolateral ligament. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
- 3 The totality of one's possessions. countable
"she therefore ordered Jenny to pack up her alls and begone, for that she was determined she should not sleep that night within her walls. […] I packed up my little all as well as I could, and went off."
- 4 Initialism of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
"In children, leukemia was most commonly ALL—lymphoblastic leukemia—and was almost always swiftly lethal."
- 5 Everything in general; all that matters. countable, uncountable
"I will die fighting for my people, because my people are all."
Adjective
- 1 All gone; dead. Pennsylvania, dialectal
"The butter is all."
Adjective
- 1 completely given to or absorbed by wordnet
- 2 (quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Wholly; entirely; completely; totally. childish, emphatic, intensifier, not-comparable, sometimes
"She was sitting all alone. It suddenly went all quiet. I'm all done, Mommy! I did it all by myself."
- 2 Apiece; each. not-comparable
"The score was 30 all when the rain delay started."
- 3 So much; used with "the" and a comparative. not-comparable
"Don't want to go? All the better since I lost the tickets."
- 4 Even; just. not-comparable, obsolete, poetic
"All as his straying flock he fed."
- 5 A quotative particle, compare like. not-comparable
"She was all, “Whatever.”"
Adverb
- 1 to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent; Completely or entirely wordnet
Determiner
- 1 Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable).
"All contestants must register for the footrace: we've arranged numbers for them all."
- 2 Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer).
"The store is open all day and all night."
- 3 Only; alone; nothing but.
"He's all talk; he never puts his ideas into practice."
- 4 Any. obsolete
"without all remedy"
Pronoun
- 1 Everything.
"Some gave all they had."
- 2 Everyone.
"A good time was had by all (of you/us/them)."
- 3 The only thing(s).
"All that was left was a small pile of ash."
- 4 Used after who, what, where, how and similar words, either without changing their meaning, or indicating that one expects that they cover more than one element, e.g. that "Who all attended?" is more than one person. (Some dialects only allow this to follow some words and not others.) India, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, Southern-US
"Q. Now, then, when you started to go to stake the claims, who all went along?"
Conjunction
- 1 Although. obsolete
"And those two froward sisters, their faire loves, / Came with them eke, all they were wondrous loth."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"All you can do is trust one another."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "all"?
Common synonyms include: a to izzard, a to z, acme, across the board, aggregate, all and some.
How do you use "all" in a sentence?
All you can do is trust one another.
How do you pronounce "all"?
Pronounced /ɔːl/.
Etymology
From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“all”). Cognates Cognate with Scots a, a', aa, aal, aw (“all”), Yola aal, al, all, aul (“all”), North Frisian aal, aale, ale, ali, åle (“all”), Saterland Frisian al (“already”), aal (“all”), West Frisian alle (“all”), Dutch al (“all”), German and Luxembourgish all (“all”), Vilamovian oły, ołły (“all”), Yiddish אַלע (ale, “all”), Danish al (“all”), Faroese and Icelandic allur (“all”), Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish all (“all”), Norwegian Nynorsk aillj, all (“all”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌻𐍃 (alls, “all”); also Breton and Welsh holl (“all”), Cornish oll (“all”), Irish alig, eile, uile, uileag, uilig (“all”), Manx ooilley (“all”), Scottish Gaelic uile, uileag (“all”), Albanian lloj (“kind, sort, type”), Lithuanian aliái (“every”), Armenian ողջ (oġǰ, “entire, whole”). The dialectal sense “all gone” is a calque of German alle. The use in [Term?] (“who all, where all”) etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).