to the tonsils en · ADP
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(figuratively, idiomatic, informal, postpositional) Entirely, completely, extremely, to the greatest degree.
And who could say how soon, if I continued to be always at his side, Wilbert Cream would get it up his nose and start attacking me with tooth and claw? Already his manner was that of a man whom the society of Bertram Wooster had fed to the tonsils, and one more sight of the latter at his elbow might quite easily make him decide to take prompt steps through the proper channels.
1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:He was stuffed to the tonsils with cream crackers.
They sat there, robed up to the tonsils, and made me feel so below a juvenile delinquent.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to the tonsils | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
top to bottom · to the gunnels · to the nth degree · to the tonsils · to the nines · to the brim · to the core · all the way · to the fullest · up to eleven · to the bone · to the backbone · to the max · in excelsis · to the top of one's bent · to the marrow · to the full · from soup to nuts · to the hilt · to the gills