whole nine yards

whole nine yards
whole nine yards by 1970, of unknown origin; perhaps arbitrary (Cf. CLOUD NINE (Cf. cloud nine)). Among the guesses that have been made without real evidence: concrete mixer trucks were said to have dispensed in this amount. Or the yard may be in the slang sense of "one hundred dollars."
Several similar phrases meaning "everything" arose in the 1940s (whole ball of wax, which is likewise of obscure origin, whole schmear); older examples include whole hog (see HOG (Cf. hog) (n.)) and whole shooting match (1896); whole shebang (1895).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • whole nine yards — The whole nine yards means means everything that is necessary or required for something …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • whole nine yards — n. the entire amount; everything. (Origin unknown. Possibly referring to the standard size of a cement mixing truck, 9 cubic yards.) □ For you I’ll go the whole nine yards. □ Youre worth the whole nine yards …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • whole nine yards — (Informal) everything possible (Usage ex: They renovated the whole house from start to finish, the whole nine yards.) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • The whole nine yards — This article is about the phrase. For the film, see The Whole Nine Yards (film). The phrase the whole nine yards means completely, the whole thing, everything, e.g. I was mugged. They took my wallet, my keys, my shoes, – the whole nine yards! The …   Wikipedia

  • The Whole Nine Yards (film) — Infobox Film name = The Whole Nine Yards caption = The Whole Nine Yards promotional movie poster writer = Mitchell Kapner starring = Matthew Perry Bruce Willis Amanda Peet Natasha Henstridge Michael Clarke Duncan Kevin Pollak Rosanna Arquette… …   Wikipedia

  • the whole nine yards — phrasal : all of a related set of circumstances, conditions, or details : ball of wax herein who could learn the most about making records, about electronics and engineering, the whole nine yards Stephen Stills sometimes used adverbially with go… …   Useful english dictionary

  • The Whole Nine Yards — Título Falsas Apariencias (España) Mi vecino, el asesino (Hispanoamérica) Ficha técnica Dirección Jonathan Lynn Producción Don Carmody Mike Drake Stephe …   Wikipedia Español

  • (the) whole nine yards — the whole nine yards informal phrase everything go the whole nine yards (=do everything possible): We could go the whole nine yards and define every word in the sentence. Thesaurus: everything and including everythingsynonym Main entry …   Useful english dictionary

  • the whole nine yards — noun a) All the way; with everything done completely or thoroughly. They really went the whole nine yards with this party. b) And everything. Often used, like etc., to finish out a list. They put up balloons, baked a cake, sent out invitations… …   Wiktionary

  • the whole nine yards — informal everything go the whole nine yards (= do everything possible): We could go the whole nine yards and define every word in the sentence …   English dictionary

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