| 释义 |
end-all|ˈɛnd-ɔːl|
[f. end v.1 + all.]
That which ‘ends all’ (see quot. 1876). Now only dial. exc. in Shaksperian phrase, the be-all and the end-all. (See be-all.)
1605Shakes. Macb. i. vii. 5 That but this blow Might be the be all, and the end all. 1876Mid-Yorksh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), End-all, more freely used than customarily, and with a wider interpretation in the sense of an act of completion. Also a finishing stroke. 1883G. Howell in Contemp. Rev. Sept. 345 The latter aim was the be-all and end-all almost of those industrial combinations. |