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3. once and for all

once and for all

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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.

See also: all, and, once

once and for all

completely and finally I wish we could settle the matter once and for all.

See also: all, and, once

once and for all

if you do something once and for all, you finish doing it so that it does not have to be dealt with again I'm fed up with arguing about this - let's just settle this argument once and for all. He claims his photographs prove once and for all that UFOs do exist.

See also: all, and, once

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]

See also: all, and, once