whole shebang, the

The entirety of something, including all things related to it. While I'm in London, I want to see Big Ben, the palace, the whole shebang.

everything; the whole thing. Mary's all set to give a fancy dinner party. She's got a fine tablecloth, good crystal, and silverware, the whole shebang. How much do you want for the whole shebang?

Also, whole shooting match. See whole ball of wax.

The whole shebang is every part of something. It was while at the Mad House that Nancy met the man in charge of the whole shebang, Colonel Maurice Buckmaster. You get to dress up: bow tie, fancy shirt, tails, the whole shebang.

The entire structure; the whole business and everything connected with it. The precise meaning of shebang in this phrase has been lost. It dates from mid-nineteenth century America, when it denoted a hut or shack, which makes no sense in the current cliché. Bret Harte used it: “That don’t fetch me even of [sic] he’d chartered the whole shebang” (“The Story of a Mine,” 1877). An alliterative synonym is the whole shooting match (also put as the whole shoot). Originally this meant a shooting competition, a usage dating from the mid-1700s. The addition of whole and the figurative meaning are much newer, dating from the 1900s. Also see kit and caboodle.