once and for all
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once and for all
Permanently. Tom went back to the outpost to settle his feud once and for all. The president is hoping to silence critics once and for all with this latest law.
once and for all
finally; permanently. Sue: I'm going to get this place organized once and for all! Alice: That'll be the day! "We need to get this straightened out once and for all," said Bob, for the fourth time today.
once and for all
As a settled matter, finally, permanently, as in Once and for all, we're not hiring that organist again, or We've settled that question once and for all. This expression is in effect an abbreviation for "one time and for all time." [Late 1400s]
once and for all (or once for all)
now and for the last time; finally.ˌonce and for ˈall
finally and definitely: I’ve decided once and for all that this city is not the place for me.once and for all
Finally and decisively. This phrase, literally meaning “this one final time which will serve forever,” dates from the fifteenth century. The earliest appearance in print is in William Caxton’s translation of the Foure Sonnes of Aymon (ca. 1489): “We oughte to ask it of hym ones for all.”