all but

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See also: all-but

English

Alternative forms

Adverb

all but (not comparable)

  1. Very nearly; everything short of. Most often precedes a verb or adjective.
    The food is all but finished.
    • 1977, George Lucas, Star Wars, spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), 20th Century Fox:
      A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. [...] Now the Jedi are all but extinct.
    • 1979, The Boomtown Rats (lyrics and music), “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:
      I practice nightly, I try to keep ahead / This art of surfacing is all but dead
    • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 September 2013:
      When the first wave of postwar immigrants arrived in Britain in the 1950s and ’60s, it was a period of rising wages, full employment, an expanding welfare state and strong trade unions. Today, Britain’s manufacturing base has all but disappeared, working-class communities have disintegrated, unions have been neutered and the welfare state has begun to crumble.
    • 2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport‎:
      A stunning performance from the Republic of Ireland all but sealed progress to Euro 2012 as they crushed nine-man Estonia 4-0 in the first leg of the qualifying play-off tie in A Le Coq Arena in Tallinn.
    • 2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69:
      The freight market has changed beyond all recognition from when RAIL was first published. Coal, the then-dominant traffic, has all but disappeared. Instead, maritime intermodal flows have shown steady growth.
  2. Everything except. Typically precedes a noun or noun phrase.
    All but three of the students skipped school the day of the parade.
    • 2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69:
      In the event, higher sale proceeds were achieved by allowing EWS Railway to acquire all but Freightliner, which was sold as a management buy-out.

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