kit and caboodle, (the whole)
kit and caboodle, (the whole)
Everything; all of it. Several writers speculate that caboodle comes from the Dutch boedel, meaning a large quantity, whereas kit has long meant a set of tools or equipment for a specific purpose, such as a tool kit or makeup kit. However, the OED maintains that caboodle is a corruption of kit and boodle, and gives quotations for whole caboodle (1838), kit and cargo (1852), kit and boiling (1859), and finally, the hul kit and boodle (1861). They all meant the same thing—“the lot.”
See also: and, kit
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- caboodle
- kit and caboodle
- the kit and caboodle
- the whole caboodle
- the whole kit and caboodle
- whole kit and caboodle
- whole kit and caboodle, the
- kaboodle
- IYSWIM
- take on a new significance