Dictionary

pull out all the stops en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɑl ðə ˈstɑps/ (cot-caught-merger)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔl ðə ˈstɑps/ without the cot–caught merger
• /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ðə ˈstɒps/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To hold back or reserve nothing.
   • They pulled out all the stops for the gala wedding.
   • To be a Christian is to be complete in all one's parts: to pull out all the stops of one's nature, and live the Christ life, so that people may say, He lives; and yet no longer he, but Christ lives in him. [1889], George Clarke, “The Love Life Natural”, in Bible Talks, London: Marshall Brothers, […]; Glasgow; Edinburgh: Menzies & Co., →OCLC, page 52:
   • [T]he entire record is a form of catharsis for its performers. One track is specifically that: the Protest section of Triptych, which Abbey Lincoln pulls out all the stops, and in a fiery release of inhibitions, screams a hair-raising Protest against all those things which a Negro must ordinarily experience in silence. 1961 May, Ted White, “Record Reviews [Max Roach: We Insist!]”, in David Solomon, editor, Metronome, volume 78, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Metronome Corporation, →OCLC, page 35, column 1:
   • Despite missing the target to open for the Commonwealth Games, work on site hasn't slowed down. VolkerFitzpatrick and its contractors have pulled out all the stops to get the job done. 2024 January 24, Peter Plisner, “Rising to the University Challenge”, in Rail, number 1001, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 61:
   • 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. 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:
   • [George] McGovern, too, was pushing himself to the limits of his strength, pulling out all the stops on Vietnam and the Watergate affair, but through the haze of exhaustion all of his speeches sounded like one long echo of the same speech. 1973, Timothy Crouse, “The Last Days”, in The Boys on the Bus, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published May 1980, →ISBN, part 3 (Covering McGovern’s Campaign), page 376:

Forms

Relateds

take off one's gloves · gloves are off · no holds barred

Synonyms

open the floodgates · give one's all · go balls to the wall · go all out · empty the tank · go up to eleven · go the whole nine yards

Translations (19)

fi tehdä kaikkensa (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es poner toda la artillería (to hold back or reserve nothing) · pl nie powstrzymywać się (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es asestar toda la artillería (to hold back or reserve nothing) · pl dawać z siebie wszystko (to hold back or reserve nothing) · fi poistaa esteet (to hold back or reserve nothing) · fr faire l'impossible (to hold back or reserve nothing) · pl nie powstrzymać się (to hold back or reserve nothing) · pt fazer o impossível (to hold back or reserve nothing) · fr mettre les petits plats dans les grands (to hold back or reserve nothing) · pl dać z siebie wszystko (to hold back or reserve nothing) · de alle Register ziehen (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es tirar la barra (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es poner toda la carne en el asador (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es hacer los imposibles (to hold back or reserve nothing) · nl alle registers opentrekken (to hold back or reserve nothing) · it fare l'impossibile (to hold back or reserve nothing) · cmn 煞費苦心 /煞费苦心 (to hold back or reserve nothing) · es estirar la barra (to hold back or reserve nothing)