English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ]

An allusion to organ stops, which are pulled out to turn on each set of sounds in a pipe organ. When all stops are pulled out, the organ will play all variations of its sounds at once, therefore being as loud as possible.

Pronunciation [ edit ]

Audio (AU)

Verb [ edit ]

pull out all the stops (third-person singular simple present pulls out all the stops, present participle pulling out all the stops, simple past and past participle pulled out all the stops)

( idiomatic ) To reserve or hold back nothing. They pulled out all the stops for the gala wedding.

Synonyms [ edit ]