whole kit and caboodle
4
6.7
- idiom
- Informal
- The team gathered everything they needed for the event, including the decorations, food, and the whole kit and caboodle.
Examples
-
Sky, earth, the whole kit and caboodle.
Academic text (1998) -
That's good too, but that's not the whole kit and caboodle, as they say.
-
Lot of good cops want to drop the whole kit and caboodle.
-
"The whole kit and caboodle," he says.
Fiction book (1994) -
Too tempting for another firm to walk away with the whole kit and caboodle.
Fiction book (1997) -
What if there was a way to get to the Moon, set up robotics, communications, the whole kit and caboodle?
Blog text (1) -
These Hawaiians nowadays, they're into yoga, vitamin supplements, the whole kit and caboodle.
-
She'd sold Marlcrest—the whole kit and caboodle—to a developer who planned to bulldoze the house, clear the land, and build a subdivision there.
Fiction book (1996) -
When he moved to the new city, he brought his family, his furniture, and the whole kit and caboodle.
-
After the sale, the manager decided to clear out the store's inventory, offering the whole kit and caboodle at a discount.
Synonyms
51
3.8
Everything extra you can have, like extra burger toppings or a full spa service
13
8.0
Everything that is part of something
8
8.5
All the things or people together as a group
8
5.2
All the things you need for an activity, like tools and supplies
7
7.0
Everything included in a deal or plan
6
3.9
Everything included, for example all parts or options
5
3.6
All the extra services and options included with a product or service
5
7.7
All the things or people involved
5
7.7
All the things and people in a group or place
All the things and people together
All the things in a group or set
Antonyms
How Complete
- Informal
4
6.7
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the whole of something' is directly derivable because 'kit' and 'caboodle' both denote a set or collection and the modifier 'whole' signals entirety; the phrase is essentially a redundant pairing that emphasizes totality. This follows straightforward additive/collective logic rather than an unpredictable idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Whole kit and caboodle may come from older speech that joins a soldier's kit, meaning his box of tools and clothes, and caboodle, an old word for a bundle or pile of things. If you imagine taking that box and bundle together — the 'whole' lot — you can see why the phrase means 'everything' or 'the whole of something'.