Word.ws English Dictionary

that's all she wrote

that's all she wrote phrase: indicating an abrupt termination of a project, or of one’s hopes or plans.

Phrase

that's all she wrote

  1. (idiomatic) Indicating an abrupt termination of a project, or of one’s hopes or plans.
    • If you see a long yellow streak of all fine smoke / That’s my rocket pulling out, that’s all she wrote / […]1951, Jackie Brenston, “My Real Gone Rocket”
    • There was a note upon my door... I won’t be back no more / That’s all she wrote, "Dear John".1951, Hank Williams, “Dear John”

Examples of that's all she wrote in a sentence

  • Inside information taken down note by note / A silent footstep that's all she wrote1987, Deep Purple, “Black And White”:
  • I get five short beeps when the machine starts to boot, and then that's all she wrote[…]2004, Michael Graves, A+ Guide to PC Hardware Maintenance & Repair, page 525:
  • I, I, got a little paycheck / You got big plans and you gotta move / And I don't feel nothing at all / And you can't feel nothing small / "Honey, I love you", that's all she wrote2016 February 5, Wesley Schultz and Jeremy Fraites, “Ophelia”, in Cleopatra, performed by The Lumineers:

Origin of that's all she wrote

Unknown; circa 1940s; thought to be a reference to Dear John letters. Ernest Tubb recorded a song titled "That's All She Wrote" (sheet music published in 1942), but earlier printed references exist (e.g. The Brownsville Herald, June 1935).

Questions about that's all she wrote

What does that's all she wrote mean?
That's all she wrote means indicating an abrupt termination of a project, or of one’s hopes or plans.
How do you use that's all she wrote in a sentence?
Inside information taken down note by note / A silent footstep that's all she wrote
What part of speech is that's all she wrote?
That's all she wrote is a phrase.

Words near that's all she wrote in the dictionary

  1. that's a shame
  2. that's a wrap
  3. that's about the size of it
  4. that's all
  5. that's all Greek to me
  6. that's all she wrote
  7. that's all there is to it
  8. that's all, folks
  9. that's as may be
  10. that's done it
  11. that's enough

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: that's all she wrote (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: En-au-that's all she wrote.ogg.

Cite this entry: “that's all she wrote.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/that%27s_all_she_wrote. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.