pull out all the stops
/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔl ðə ˈstɑps/UK/ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ðə ˈstɒps/
pull out all the stops verb: to hold back or reserve nothing.
Verb
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)
- 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
- Synonyms:
- empty the tank, give one's all, go all out, go balls to the wall, go the whole nine yards, go up to eleven, open the floodgates
Synonyms of pull out all the stops
- empty the tank
- give one's all
- go all out
- go balls to the wall
- go the whole nine yards
- go up to eleven
- open the floodgates
Forms of pull out all the stops
| third-person singular present | pulls out all the stops |
|---|---|
| present participle | pulling out all the stops |
| past participle | pulled out all the stops |
| past | pulled out all the stops |
| alternative form | pull out all stops |
Origin of pull out all the stops
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.
Words that rhyme with pull out all the stops
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about pull out all the stops
- What does pull out all the stops mean?
- Pull out all the stops means to hold back or reserve nothing.
- What part of speech is pull out all the stops?
- Pull out all the stops is a verb.
- How do you pronounce pull out all the stops?
- Pull out all the stops is pronounced /ˈpʊl‿aʊt‿ɔːl ðə ˈstɒps/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of pull out all the stops?
- The past tense of pull out all the stops is pulled out all the stops.
Words near pull out all the stops in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pull out all the stops (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-pull out all the stops.wav, En-au-pull out all the stops.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pull out all the stops.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pull_out_all_the_stops. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.