All-to

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  All \All\, adv.
     1. Wholly; completely; altogether; entirely; quite; very; as,
        all bedewed; my friend is all for amusement. "And cheeks
        all pale." --Byron.
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     Note: In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all too much, all
           so long, etc., this word retains its appropriate sense
           or becomes intensive.
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     2. Even; just. (Often a mere intensive adjunct.) [Obs. or
        Poet.]
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              All as his straying flock he fed.     --Spenser.
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              A damsel lay deploring
              All on a rock reclined.               --Gay.
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     {All to}, or {All-to}. In such phrases as "all to rent," "all
        to break," "all-to frozen," etc., which are of frequent
        occurrence in our old authors, the all and the to have
        commonly been regarded as forming a compound adverb,
        equivalent in meaning to entirely, completely, altogether.
        But the sense of entireness lies wholly in the word all
        (as it does in "all forlorn," and similar expressions),
        and the to properly belongs to the following word, being a
        kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and
        answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer-). It is frequently to
        be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus
        Wyclif says, "The vail of the temple was to rent:" and of
        Judas, "He was hanged and to-burst the middle:" i. e.,
        burst in two, or asunder.
  
     {All along}. See under {Along}.
  
     {All and some}, individually and collectively, one and all.
        [Obs.] "Displeased all and some." --Fairfax.
  
     {All but}.
        (a) Scarcely; not even. [Obs.] --Shak.
        (b) Almost; nearly. "The fine arts were all but
            proscribed." --Macaulay.
  
     {All hollow}, entirely, completely; as, to beat any one all
        hollow. [Low]
  
     {All one}, the same thing in effect; that is, wholly the same
        thing.
  
     {All over}, over the whole extent; thoroughly; wholly; as,
        she is her mother all over. [Colloq.]
  
     {All the better}, wholly the better; that is, better by the
        whole difference.
  
     {All the same}, nevertheless. "There they [certain phenomena]
        remain rooted all the same, whether we recognize them or
        not." --J. C. Shairp. "But Rugby is a very nice place all
        the same." --T. Arnold. -- See also under {All}, n.
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