the whole nine yards

the whole nine yards
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All the way; with everything done completely or thoroughly.

Etymology:

During WWII, U.S. Airplanes were armed with belts of bullets which they would shoot during dogfights and on strafing runs. These belts were folded into the wing compartments that fed their machine guns. These belts measure 27 feet and contained hundreds of rounds of bullets. Often times, the pilots would return from their missions having expended all of their bullets on various targets. They would say, I gave them the whole nine yards, meaning they used up all of their ammunition.

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They really went the whole nine yards with this party.

Collection Edit

Submitted on July 23, 2010

Additional definitions for 'the whole nine yards':

the whole nine yards

And everything. Often used, like etc., to finish out a list.

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to the whole nine yards

there are the word is go the wheels came off the way to a man's heart is through his…the wheel turns the whistle doesn't pull the train the whole shooting match the whole world and his dog the upper hand them's the facts the whistle does not pull the train the wheels fell off the bus then again the wheels came off the bus

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"the whole nine yards." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2019. Web. 12 Dec. 2019. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/the-whole-nine-yards_7435>.

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