nook and cranny

nook and cranny

Every possible place or part of something, down to the smallest ones. You need to clean every nook and cranny of this room before your grandmother gets here—it has to be spotless for her! I looked in every nook and cranny of the attic and couldn't find that box anywhere.
See also: and, cranny, nook
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

nooks and crannies

COMMON If you talk about the nooks and crannies of a place or object, you mean the smaller parts which are not normally noticed or are hard to reach. In the weeks before Christmas, we would search all the nooks and crannies of the house, trying to find our presents. This historic county town is packed with interesting nooks and crannies to explore. Note: You can also talk about every nook and cranny, meaning all the parts of a place or object. He seemed to know every nook and cranny of Venice. Note: A nook is a corner or recess in a wall, and a cranny is a narrow opening or gap.
See also: and, cranny, nook
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

nook and cranny, every

Every place, all over. This expression combines nook, which has meant an out-of-the-way corner since the fourteenth century, and cranny, meaning a crack or crevice since the fifteenth century. Frederick Marryat used it in Japhet in Search of a Father (1836): “After examining every nook and cranny they could think of.”
See also: and, every, nook
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • nook or cranny
  • nooks and crannies
  • every nook and cranny
  • every (old) nook and cranny
  • nook and cranny, every
  • every which where
  • cover all bases
  • cover all the/your bases
  • every inch a/the leader, star, hero, etc.
  • learnt
References in periodicals archive
"Let us bar the gates of Westminster and stop MPs leaving for their summer holidays until this crisis has been sorted out, and every nook and cranny of our political system reformed," Mr Clegg said.
MPs 'should cancel hols'
His globetrotting has brought the symbolism of the papacy to almost every nook and cranny on earth.
Independence Day
"I think I have been to every nook and cranny and talked to every works gateman I could find.
Designer banks on river business
"The implosion of the South Tower generated tornado-force winds which distributed fine dust from the destruction of the World Trade Center into every nook and cranny of 130 Liberty Street through the 15-story gash and approximately 1,700 broken windows," the complaint said.
Deutsche Bank lawsuit threatens development
In Being America: Liberty, Commerce, and Violence in an American World, he sets out to trace our influence into every nook and cranny of the globe.
At home abroad
The world's sport is played in every nook and cranny, and soccer coaches speak the same language.
A message from the President
However the small library in Hopkinton has more pressing needs - it already has books piled high on shelves in every nook and cranny of the 105-year-old building.
Massachusetts library unable to spend windfall
It's having bus trips repeatedly interrupted by checkpoint officials, who require all passengers to get off the bus, then board themselves to minutely inspect every nook and cranny. It's arbitrary curfews, imposed whenever the government judges the situation to be too unstable to allow people on the streets.
Sri Lanka's War on Terrorism. (The Last Word)
The document continues: "What counts is more results, better responses to practical issues and not a European superstate or European institutions inveigling their way into every nook and cranny of life."
Blair given EU backing in war on superstate
IN AN AGE WHEN SPY SATELLITES CAN read the number off your car's license plate, one would think that scientists had long ago mapped every nook and cranny of the Earth's surface.
Here's Looking at You
You do not blanket a child with love; nothing compels you to love every nook and cranny of another person's soul, even your child's.
Forgive your church its trespasses
Ace whistles, and a veritable zoo of creatures emerges from every nook and cranny of the apartment: out of the toilet, out of the closets, the vases, you name it; dozens of animals of different species, birds, monkeys, rodents, amphibians, as well as cats and dogs, all trained to hide from the landlord and come out on cue.
The Vegetarian Cinophile
When heated, this nonabrasive compound expands and foams to reach into and clean out every nook and cranny. It comes ready to use with no mixing and is said to have unlimited shelf life.
One Purging Compound Cleans Out Coex Systems
"There is always a nook and cranny at camp; the Snoezelen doesn't require much space," notes Mace.
Snoezelen: A Magical Place at Camp
Her ego - ``people come out of every nook and cranny to kiss me'' - is in exact proportion to her pendulous breasts which America's Howard Stern apparently said deserved to have a show of their own.
Sue Carroll's column: Rear views