Definition

Noun: 1. The entire collection, group, or quantity of something; the whole lot. This word is almost exclusively used in the informal phrase "the whole caboodle" to emphasize the entirety of a set of items, people, or circumstances.

Usage

• "Caboodle" is almost never used alone. It is a fixed part of the informal idiom "the whole caboodle" (or sometimes "the whole kit and caboodle").
• It functions as a noun to collectively refer to everything involved in a situation.
• Register: Informal, colloquial. It adds a slightly old-fashioned or emphatic tone.

Examples

• When the company was sold, the buildings, the patents, and the client list—the whole caboodle—went to the new owner.
• I'm tired of dealing with these problems piece by piece. Let's just fix the whole caboodle at once.
• She didn't just take a few books; she packed up her library, the whole caboodle.

Advanced Usage / Idioms

• The whole kit and caboodle: This is a longer, more common variant of the idiom. "Kit" refers to a set of tools or equipment, and "caboodle" intensifies it to mean the entire set.
  • They moved out of the house, furniture, car, pets—the whole kit and caboodle.

Variants and Related Words

• Boodle (noun): An archaic or slang term for a crowd or group, or for money. It is the likely root of "caboodle."
• The whole shebang (noun, idiom): A direct synonym meaning "everything involved."
• The whole nine yards (noun, idiom): Another informal synonym for the entirety of something.

Synonyms

• The entirety
• The whole lot
• The whole shebang
• The whole works
• Everything

Antonyms

• A part
• A portion
• A piece
• A fragment

Noun

1. any collection in its entirety
   • she bought the whole caboodle