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Definition 2024


whole_nine_yards

the whole nine yards

English

Adverb

the whole nine yards

  1. (idiomatic) All the way; with everything done completely or thoroughly.
    • 2007, Thomas Mchenry, Along the Rails: A Juror's Journey, page 85:
      Would they want me to vote my conscience or would they want us to unanimously go the whole nine yards, declare him sane and possibly have the trial end up in a death sentence?
    • 2007, R. D. Reynolds, The Wrestlecrap Book of Lists!, page 18:
      WWE went the whole nine yards, from making Tshirts with the slogan to having announcers mention his new handle approximately every four seconds anytime he was on-screen.
    • 2012, Susan Stephens, Working with the Enemy, page 164:
      Colleen had gone the whole nine yards, dressing up as a fortune teller, complete with huge gold earrings and a headscarf, which she'd plucked from her normal accessory box, she told Bronte.

Noun

the whole nine yards

  1. (idiomatic) (And) everything; often used, like etc., to finish out a list.
    • 2002, Mary Losure, Our Way Or the Highway: Inside the Minnehaha Free State, page 161:
      "I had a good job, a nice little house, the whole nine yards," she said.
    • 2009, Jason Barbacovi, Me and Chairman Mao, page 101:
      No, to her credit she kept right on going the whole time, telling me how she was from Mongolia, how she was an art student, how she was having an exhibition — the whole nine yards.
    • 2009, Reynaldo Laureano, Politics Vs. Prejudice in the Highway Patrol, page 46:
      Mario asked me to explain to him the whole nine yards so I decided to start off on a good note.

See also

References

  1. Adams, Cecil (1987-04-10, with updates since), “The Straight Dope: What's the origin of "the whole nine yards"?”, in (Please provide the title of the work), retrieved 2007-06-21
  2. Quinion, Michael (1999-03-20, last updated 2005-06-30), “World Wide Words: The Whole Nine Yards”, in (Please provide the title of the work), retrieved 2007-06-21
  3. Martin, Gary (accessed 2007-06-21), “The whole nine yards”, in (Please provide the title of the work)
  4. Zimmer, Benjamin (2007-06-21), “Language Log: Great moments in antedating”, in (Please provide the title of the work), retrieved 2007-06-21
  5. Zimmer, Benjamin (2007-11-12), “Language Log: Great moments in antedating, part 2: all nine yards of goodies”, in (Please provide the title of the work), retrieved 2007-11-13
  6. Schuessler, Jennifer (2012-12-26), “NYTimes.com: The Whole Nine Yards About a Phrase’s Origin”, in (Please provide the title of the work), retrieved 2012-12-29