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cover the waterfront

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cover the waterfront

to deal with every detail concerning a specific topic. Her talk really covered the waterfront. By the time she finished, I knew much more than I wanted to know.

See also: cover, waterfront

cover the waterfront

to deal with all parts of a subject or area of interest, not omitting anything The FBI cannot expect a handful of agents to cover the waterfront in investigating terrorism.

See also: cover, waterfront

cover the waterfront

  (American)

to talk about every part of a subject, or to deal with every part of a job It was a mistake to try and cover the waterfront in her talk - one or two points would have been enough. It's obvious one salesman can't cover the waterfront. We'll need a whole team for this area.

See also: cover, waterfront

cover the waterfront

To treat, examine, or include a full range of things: a book that covers the waterfront on starting your own business.

See also: cover, waterfront