whole nine yards

The entirety of what's possible or available; all the related elements of something. Wow, Shelly really went the whole nine yards with toppings for the ice cream bar. There's much more than just whipped cream and sprinkles here! I want a traditional wedding, with the cake, the dress—the whole nine yards.

Sl. the entire amount; everything, as far as possible. For you I'll go the whole nine yards. You're worth the whole nine yards.

The entire distance; the whole thing. The source of this term has been lost, but as usual there are several etymological theories. The following were suggested by William Safire’s correspondents: nine yards once constituted the entire amount put onto a bolt of cloth, and for an ornate garment the “whole nine yards” would be used; the standard large cement mixer holds nine yards of cement, and a big construction job would use up the “whole nine yards”; in the square-rigged, three-masted sailing ship of former times, each mast carried three “yards” (the spars supporting the sails), and the expression “whole nine yards” would mean that the sails were fully set. Novelist Lee Child used it in 61 Hours (2010): “Which means he was ready for a full-blown transaction. A conversation, a discussion, the whole nine yards.”

The entire amount or distance. Of all phrases in the English language, few have as many supposed sources as this one. Among the possibilities are the nine yards of material from which tailors made expensive men's suits; the nine cubic yards of concrete that concrete trucks held; the nine yards (or spars) on a three-masted sailing ship; the volume of grave soil; and the length of a World War II aircraft ammunition belt. However, none of these or any other explanation has been conclusively proven. The phrase first appeared during the 1960s of out Vietnam War writings with no further explanation. Other phrases that refer to everything are “all the marbles,” “the whole shooting match,” “the whole ball of wax,” and “the whole shebang.”