everything

Meanings

1. 1
   pron

   All the things under discussion.

   I checked the list again and everything is done.

2. 2
   pron

   Many or most things.

   A: What do you want to do at the amusement park? B: Everything!

3. 3
   pron

   A state of well-being (from all parts of the whole).

   Everything failed, didn't it?

4. 4
   pron

   Considerable effort.

   It took everything in me to resist the temptation to skip work on my birthday.

5. 5
   pron

   The most important thing.

   I can't believe I made it in time – timing is everything!

6. 6
   verb

   Used as a placeholder verb to encapsulate a set of related verbs or any action.

   ‘Hardly. We’re screened by every shrink in the kingdom. We're printed, weighed, photographed, everythinged. Selection for security takes a lifetime—one of our sayings,’ she added modestly.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English every thing; univerbation of every + thing.