caboodle
/kə'bu:dl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. The entire collection, group, or quantity of something; the whole lot. This word is almost exclusively used in the informal phrase "the whole caboodle" to emphasize the entirety of a set of items, people, or circumstances.
Usage
- "Caboodle" is almost never used alone. It is a fixed part of the informal idiom "the whole caboodle" (or sometimes "the whole kit and caboodle").
- It functions as a noun to collectively refer to everything involved in a situation.
- Register: Informal, colloquial. It adds a slightly old-fashioned or emphatic tone.
Examples
- When the company was sold, the buildings, the patents, and the client list—the whole caboodle—went to the new owner.
- I'm tired of dealing with these problems piece by piece. Let's just fix the whole caboodle at once.
- She didn't just take a few books; she packed up her library, the whole caboodle.
Advanced Usage / Idioms
- The whole kit and caboodle: This is a longer, more common variant of the idiom. "Kit" refers to a set of tools or equipment, and "caboodle" intensifies it to mean the entire set.
- They moved out of the house, furniture, car, pets—the whole kit and caboodle.
Variants and Related Words
- Boodle (noun): An archaic or slang term for a crowd or group, or for money. It is the likely root of "caboodle."
- The whole shebang (noun, idiom): A direct synonym meaning "everything involved."
- The whole nine yards (noun, idiom): Another informal synonym for the entirety of something.
Synonyms
- The entirety
- The whole lot
- The whole shebang
- The whole works
- Everything
Antonyms
- A part
- A portion
- A piece
- A fragment
Noun
- any collection in its entirety
- she bought the whole caboodle