Definition

1. Noun (informal, chiefly US):
   • An extreme degree; a very large amount or intensity: Used as an intensifier, typically in similes, to emphasize that something is at its maximum possible level.

Usage

• This term is almost exclusively used in the comparative structure "like all get-out" to intensify a verb or adjective.
• It functions as an adverbial phrase meaning "to the utmost degree," "extremely," or "very much."

Examples

• With a verb:
  • It was raining like all get-out. (It was raining extremely hard.)
  • The engine was roaring like all get-out. (The engine was roaring very loudly.)
• With an adjective:
  • He was working hard like all get-out. (He was working extremely hard.)
  • She was mad like all get-out. (She was very angry.)

Advanced Usage

• "like all get-out": The standard and primary construction. It is a fixed idiom.
  • This car can go fast like all get-out.
• The phrase is often used to add colorful, emphatic exaggeration to a statement.

Variants and Related Words

• Billy-o / billy-ho (Noun, chiefly British): The British English equivalent, used in the same structure: "like billy-o."
  • It was blowing a gale like billy-o.

Synonyms

• Extremely: To a very high degree.
• Like crazy / like mad (informal): With great intensity or enthusiasm.
• To the nth degree: To the utmost extent.

Notes

• "All get-out" is a non-count noun and is never used with an article (e.g., all get-out).
• The phrase is considered informal and is more common in spoken American English than in formal writing.

Noun

1. an unimaginably large amount
   • British say `it rained like billyo' where Americans say `it rained like all get out'