to all intents and purposes

Related to to all intents and purposes: caught on the hop, run to ground

to all intents and purposes

In every practical or functional sense; almost completely. To all intents and purposes, the gym is ready for tonight's dance. There's only a few small things we still need to do.

See also: all, and, intent, purpose, to

to all intents and purposes

Also, for all intents and purposes; for all practical purposes. In every practical sense, virtually. For example, For all intents and purposes the case is closed, or For all practical purposes the Vice-President is the chief executive while the President is in the hospital . The first phrase, dating from the 1500s, originated in English law, where it was to all intents, constructions, and purposes. A shorter synonym is in effect, def. 1.

See also: all, and, intent, purpose, to

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

to all intents and purposes

COMMON You say to all intents and purposes to suggest that a situation is not exactly as you describe it but the effect is the same as if it were. To all intents and purposes he was my father. Note: People sometimes just say to all intents with the same meaning. For the first time in many years he was, to all intents, a free man.

See also: all, and, intent, purpose, to

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

to all intents and purposes

in all important respects.

1992 London Review of Books For if in 1976 pianists really were about to lose the skill of polyphonic piano-playing, then to all intents and purposes the skill of playing the piano was at an end.

See also: all, and, intent, purpose, to

to all intents and ˈpurposes

(British English) (American English for all intents and ˈpurposes) in almost every important way: The fighting has stopped, so to all intents and purposes, the war is over.

See also: all, and, intent, purpose, to

all intents and purposes, for (to)

In practical terms; virtually. Since intent and purpose mean the same thing, the term is a tautology. According to Eric Partridge, it has been a cliché since the mid-nineteenth century. It originated in English law in the 1500s, when it was even more long-windedly phrased, to all intents, constructions and purposes.