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At all   /æt ɔl/   Listen
noun
All  n.  The whole number, quantity, or amount; the entire thing; everything included or concerned; the aggregate; the whole; totality; everything or every person; as, our all is at stake. "Death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to all." "All that thou seest is mine." Note: All is used with of, like a partitive; as, all of a thing, all of us.
After all, after considering everything to the contrary; nevertheless.
All in all, a phrase which signifies all things to a person, or everything desired; (also adverbially) wholly; altogether. "Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee, Forever." "Trust me not at all, or all in all."
All in the wind (Naut.), a phrase denoting that the sails are parallel with the course of the wind, so as to shake.
All told, all counted; in all.
And all, and the rest; and everything connected. "Bring our crown and all."
At all.
(a)
In every respect; wholly; thoroughly. (Obs.) "She is a shrew at al(l)."
(b)
A phrase much used by way of enforcement or emphasis, usually in negative or interrogative sentences, and signifying in any way or respect; in the least degree or to the least extent; in the least; under any circumstances; as, he has no ambition at all; has he any property at all? "Nothing at all." "If thy father at all miss me.".
Over all, everywhere. (Obs.) Note: All is much used in composition to enlarge the meaning, or add force to a word. In some instances, it is completely incorporated into words, and its final consonant is dropped, as in almighty, already, always: but, in most instances, it is an adverb prefixed to adjectives or participles, but usually with a hyphen, as, all-bountiful, all-glorious, allimportant, all-surrounding, etc. In others it is an adjective; as, allpower, all-giver. Anciently many words, as, alabout, alaground, etc., were compounded with all, which are now written separately.



preposition
At  prep.  Primarily, this word expresses the relations of presence, nearness in place or time, or direction toward; as, at the ninth hour; at the house; to aim at a mark. It is less definite than in or on; at the house may be in or near the house. From this original import are derived all the various uses of at. It expresses: -
1.
A relation of proximity to, or of presence in or on, something; as, at the door; at your shop; at home; at school; at hand; at sea and on land.
2.
The relation of some state or condition; as, at war; at peace; at ease; at your service; at fault; at liberty; at risk; at disadvantage.
3.
The relation of some employment or action; occupied with; as, at engraving; at husbandry; at play; at work; at meat (eating); except at puns.
4.
The relation of a point or position in a series, or of degree, rate, or value; as, with the thermometer at 80°; goods sold at a cheap price; a country estimated at 10,000 square miles; life is short at the longest.
5.
The relations of time, age, or order; as, at ten o'clock; at twenty-one; at once; at first.
6.
The relations of source, occasion, reason, consequence, or effect; as, at the sight; at this news; merry at anything; at this declaration; at his command; to demand, require, receive, deserve, endure at your hands.
7.
Relation of direction toward an object or end; as, look at it; to point at one; to aim at a mark; to throw, strike, shoot, wink, mock, laugh at any one.
At all, At home, At large, At last, At length, At once, etc. See under All, Home, Large, Last (phrase and syn.), Length, Once, etc.
At it, busily or actively engaged.
At least. See Least and However.
At one. See At one, in the Vocabulary.
Synonyms: In, At. When reference to the interior of any place is made prominent in is used. It is used before the names of countries and cities (esp. large cities); as, we live in America, in New York, in the South. At is commonly employed before names of houses, institutions, villages, and small places; as, Milton was educated at Christ's College; money taken in at the Customhouse; I saw him at the jeweler's; we live at Beachville. At may be used before the name of a city when it is regarded as a mere point of locality. "An English king was crowned at Paris." "Jean Jacques Rousseau was born at Geneva, June, 28, 1712." In regard to time, we say at the hour, on the day, in the year; as, at 9 o'clock, on the morning of July 5th, in the year 1775.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"At all" Quotes from Famous Books



... had been going to Switzerland were friends of Bill Chester too, and so it was doubtful now whether he would go abroad at all. ...
— The Chink in the Armour • Marie Belloc Lowndes

... Infanta, the cocoanut-palm is extensively cultivated, solely for the purpose of extracting the oil from the nut. The cocoanut-oil factories are very rough, primitive establishments, usually consisting of eight or ten posts supporting a nipa palm-leaf roof, and closed in at all sides with split bamboos. The nuts are heaped for a while to dry and concentrate the oil in the fruit. Then they are chopped, more or less, in half. A man sits on a board with his feet on a treadle, from which a rope is passed ...
— The Philippine Islands • John Foreman

... brain. She had long since raised the dose to its highest limit, but tonight she felt she must increase it. She knew she took a slight risk in doing so—she remembered the chemist's warning. If sleep came at all, it might be a sleep without waking. But after all that was but one chance in a hundred: the action of the drug was incalculable, and the addition of a few drops to the regular dose would probably do no more than procure for her the rest ...
— House of Mirth • Edith Wharton

... the boiling, hissing, bubbling, foaming waters, rolling down headlong with such impetuous velocity that one could hardly believe they form part of the same placid stream, which flows so gently between its banks, when no obstacles oppose it; and at all the little silvery threads of water, that formed mimic cascades among the rocks; but at length we were obliged to recommence our toilsome march up the slippery mountain. We were accompanied by several officers—amongst others, by the commandant ...
— Life in Mexico • Frances Calderon de la Barca

... thousand Indians—such a man, I say, inspires me with no more respect than the bitterest democrat can feel towards him. But, such as he is, he is a part of the old society to which we belong and I submit to his lordship with acquiescence; and he takes his place above the best of us at all dinner-parties, and there bides his time. I don't want to chop his head off with a guillotine, or to fling mud at him in the streets. When they call such a man a disgrace to his order; and such another, who ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray


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