everything but
47
3.4
- idiom
- I have everything but the final piece to complete my puzzle.
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Watch on YouTubeAnd it's like, no, you're everything but that.
- And it's like, no, you're everything but that.
- But if you think about what happens if you fix again everything but two of the alphas.
- Like it's his birthday the other day and everything but Bill goes to me.
Examples
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Forget everything but me.
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Well, I expected everything but this.
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Lost everything but her vision and good looks.
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I handle everything but the middle of the night.
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I got everything but what I want.
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I wanted to tell them everything, but I had not yet emerged.
Fiction book (2000) -
The grown-ups understood everything, but they were too busy to answer my questions.
Fiction book (1994) -
I give away everything but secrets, Liz.
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They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us.
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It is to say no frequently and gracefully to everything but what is truly vital.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'all things except' is directly derivable from combining 'everything' (all things) with 'but' functioning as an exception marker ('except'); this follows a common, compositional English pattern. Because 'but' is regularly used to mean 'except' and the logic is cross-linguistically familiar, a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the phrase.
Etymology
Everything but gives a clear picture: you put everything into a bag and then use but to leave one thing out, like saying you packed almost all your things 'except' one item. So, everything but means 'all things except'.