whole shebang
7
8.0
- noun
- Informal
:
todo el asunto
- That client of mine was very thorough—told me your address, what you look like, the whole shebang.
- win the whole shebang
- charge of the whole shebang
- get the whole shebang
This whole meal is all vegan, non processed, the whole shebang which I'm all about.
- This whole meal is all vegan, non processed, the whole shebang which I'm all about.
- So freshly chopped ginger, cardamom, boiled milk, like the whole shebang.
- And the question is how difficult is it to reverse engineer the whole shebang?
- It's RF microwaves, the whole shebang.
- I did my hair this morning, washed it, blow dried it, curled it, the whole shebang.
- Like I went to the doctor and I told her what had happened and the whole shebang and she put me on the waiting list to see a therapist.
- Of course, it's important to remember the whole shebang did not start as an investigation into what Donald Trump did or did not do.
- If I'm kind of shaving my legs and doing whole shebang, then it can take me like half an hour.
- And then it starts coming out that coppers were bent, tamper me evidence, the whole shebang that it was a set up.
Examples
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Since you're likely to run up a good bill footing your wedding, getting miles and other perks out of the whole shebang is a good idea.
Blog text (12) -
Flight, hotel, expenses, the whole shebang.
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But more and more there are places that will do the whole shebang, or at least the production stuff.
-
"Some of them are beginning to think I own the whole shebang myself, can you believe it?"
Fiction book (1996) -
Maybe he'll come to you and offer to buy the whole shebang once he has these two pieces.
Fiction book (1993) -
I'll fund your whole shebang.
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You got your banking, butcher, post office-- the whole shebang.
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She wanted the whole shebang.
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Mrs. Meyer explains the whole shebang on her website.
Blog text (22) -
For her birthday, I booked the flight, hotel, and the whole shebang to make it special.
Synonyms
484
1.0
All of something seen as one unit
55
3.8
Everything extra you can have, like extra burger toppings or a full spa service
15
8.4
The whole thing, including all parts and people
5
7.7
All the things and people in a group or place
4
7.0
Everything included in a deal or plan
4
6.7
All the things and people connected with something
3
5.2
All the things you need for an activity, like tools and supplies
3
3.6
All the extra services and options included with a product or service
2
3.9
Everything included, for example all parts or options
1
7.7
All the things or people involved
All the things in a group or set
All the things and people together
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'everything involved' is directly built from 'whole' (totality) plus 'shebang' (an informal term for the entirety), so the overall sense is compositional and immediately recoverable. Although 'shebang' is informal/slang, a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase whole shebang may come from an old word shebang that meant a simple hut or building with lots of things inside. People used shebang for the whole place, so saying the whole shebang came to mean 'everything' or 'the entire thing'.