all get out
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- 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
- an unimaginably large amount
- British say `it rained like billyo' where Americans say `it rained like all get out'