"pull out all stops" meaning in English

See pull out all stops in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ˈstɒps/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔl ˈstɑps/ [General-American], /-ɑl-/ [General-American, cot-caught-merger] Forms: pulls out all stops [present, singular, third-person], pulling out all stops [participle, present], pulled out all stops [participle, past], pulled out all stops [past]
Rhymes: -ɒps Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=pull out all stops}} pull out all stops (third-person singular simple present pulls out all stops, present participle pulling out all stops, simple past and past participle pulled out all stops)
  1. Alternative form of pull out all the stops. Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: pull out all the stops
    Sense id: en-pull_out_all_stops-en-verb-lgMK7JLv Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pulls out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulling out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "pull out all stops"
      },
      "expansion": "pull out all stops (third-person singular simple present pulls out all stops, present participle pulling out all stops, simple past and past participle pulled out all stops)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "pull out all the stops"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              80
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 August 23, Warren Blumenfeld, “Community Voices: Liberty’s Dimmed Lamp”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 6, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:",
          "text": "It is curious that in the very same week as the country is pulling out all stops to celebrate one of its most cherished symbols to freedom and opportunity, it has at the same time further plugged up basic human rights of privacy for those who do not define themselves as heterosexual.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of pull out all the stops."
      ],
      "id": "en-pull_out_all_stops-en-verb-lgMK7JLv",
      "links": [
        [
          "pull out all the stops",
          "pull out all the stops#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ˈstɒps/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔl ˈstɑps/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ɑl-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒps"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pull out all stops"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pulls out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulling out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled out all stops",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "pull out all stops"
      },
      "expansion": "pull out all stops (third-person singular simple present pulls out all stops, present participle pulling out all stops, simple past and past participle pulled out all stops)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "pull out all the stops"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒps",
        "Rhymes:English/ɒps/4 syllables"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              59,
              80
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 August 23, Warren Blumenfeld, “Community Voices: Liberty’s Dimmed Lamp”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 6, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 2:",
          "text": "It is curious that in the very same week as the country is pulling out all stops to celebrate one of its most cherished symbols to freedom and opportunity, it has at the same time further plugged up basic human rights of privacy for those who do not define themselves as heterosexual.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of pull out all the stops."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "pull out all the stops",
          "pull out all the stops#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ˈstɒps/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔl ˈstɑps/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ɑl-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɒps"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pull out all stops"
}

Download raw JSONL data for pull out all stops meaning in English (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (606a11c and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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