all around

noun, adj, adv — 8 senses

all-around

nounalso spelled all-around

Etymology From all- + around, compare all-round.

1

Gymnastics, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Canada, US A gymnastic event featuring several individual exercises.

Related terms
all-round

all around

adj
1

Including everything about a topic; overall, all-encompassing.

Synonyms
exhaustive, thorough

all around

adv
1

In every surrounding place.

  • Love Is All Around
2

In every respect.

  • That's, of course, overlooking the fact that the Foundation grabbed some teenage girls off the street, experimented on them, chucked them underground, and forgot about them. Maybe, if that plan had actually worked to save humanity, there'd be some arguments there, but, as it is, it's really just a bad look all around.2023 October 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-7450 - L is for Lamentations” (23:16 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2023:
3

For each person.

  • I bought drinks all around.

all-around

adj

Etymology From all- + around, compare all-round.

1

Canada, US, Idiomatic Able to do many or all things well.

  • He is said to be a greater hunter and an all around sport.1909, Horace A. Taylor, Tales of Travel All Around the World, page 149:
  • If you want to polish your reputation as an all-around digital photographer, plan on developing at least a modicum of skill with a decent image editing program.2004, David D. Busch, Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, page 15:
1 more example
  • But it was as an all-around performer that Gill established his reputation.2005, Frank Zarnowski, All-around Men: Heroes of a Forgotten Sport, page 98:
2

Canada, US, Idiomatic Comprehensive in extent.

  • While Willie Mays's famous catch off the bat of Vic Wertz and Dusty Rhodes's clutch hitting are what fans remember most about the 1954 World Series, Thompson was easily the all-around best in those four games.1994, Larry Moffi, Crossing the Line: Black Major Leaguers, 1947-1959, page 18:
  • Children must be given the opportunity to communicate in an all-around way, using language, drawing, music, drama, play, etc. (hence the expression "a child has a hundred languages").2009, Ole Fredrik Lillemyr, Taking Play Seriously, page 67:
1 more example
  • As mentioned above, the construction of modern population culture is an important and difficult task toward realizing the goal of population development for building a well-off society in an all-around way.2014, Xueyuan Tian, The Hope of the Country with a Large Population:

all-around

adv

Etymology From all- + around, compare all-round.

1

Canada, US, Idiomatic Generally, broadly.

  • an all-around better player than me
  • Vacation with pay, annual passes, and all around better working conditions.1911, The Railroad Telegrapher, volume 28, page 1730:
3 more examples
  • In addition, be sure to reinforce - as persistently as possible - that addressing questionable behavior makes for an all-around better organization.2005, Christopher Bauer, Better Ethics Now: How to Avoid the Ethics Disaster You Never Saw Coming:
  • He graduated from the Police Academy in 1957 winning the Police Commissioner's Trophy for all around highest scores-academically, physically, and for firearm proficiency.2010, Anne T. Romano, Italian Americans in Law Enforcement, page 84:
  • Collectively, the three sections in this chapter are intended to add to what has gone before regarding personal behavior and to serve as additional food for thought for those attempting to be all-around better people.2013, Holland E. Bynam, On Being a Better You, page 26:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for all-around and all around.