ðə hoʊl naɪn jɑːrdz
General
informal
beginner
- Literally:
- All nine yards of something
What does "the whole nine yards" mean?
- Everything; the full amount
- The complete extent of something
Examples
- She went the whole nine yards for her wedding.
- Let's go the whole nine yards with this renovation.
- They wanted the whole nine yards—catering, decorations, entertainment.
Origin
Origin disputed—possibly from WWII aircraft machine gun ammunition belts (27 feet = 9 yards), or fabric needed for a suit.
How to use it
American expression meaning complete or maximum effort. Very common.
Similar expressions
everything
the full monty
all of it
the works
Opposites
partial
incomplete
half-hearted
Related idioms
- actions speak louder than words
What people do is more important than what they say
- better safe than sorry
It's better to be careful and prevent problems than to take risks
- so far so good
Things have gone well up to now
- easier said than done
Something is more difficult to do than to talk about
- make a long story short
To summarize or get to the point
- to make matters worse
In addition to existing problems
Use it in a practice answer
Try "the whole nine yards" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.