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ALL AT ONCE
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I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Without warning
Example:
all at once, he started shouting
Synonyms:
all at once; all of a sudden
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
All at the same time
Example:
Let's say 'Yes!' all at once
Synonyms:
all at once; all together
Classified under:
Context examples:
It was growing quite dusk, however, before they were in the neighbourhood of Uppercross, and there had been total silence among them for some time, Henrietta leaning back in the corner, with a shawl over her face, giving the hope of her having cried herself to sleep; when, as they were going up their last hill, Anne found herself all at once addressed by Captain Wentworth.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Thereupon the Wicked Witch enchanted my axe, and when I was chopping away at my best one day, for I was anxious to get the new house and my wife as soon as possible, the axe slipped all at once and cut off my left leg.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
"This is too much all at once for yours truly. Give me a chance to get my nerve. You know I didn't want to come, an' I guess your fam'ly ain't hankerin' to see me neither."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I have my alarms, but they are quite in a different quarter; and if I could have altered the weather, you would have had a good sharp east wind blowing on you the whole time—for here are some of my plants which Robert will leave out because the nights are so mild, and I know the end of it will be, that we shall have a sudden change of weather, a hard frost setting in all at once, taking everybody (at least Robert) by surprise, and I shall lose every one; and what is worse, cook has just been telling me that the turkey, which I particularly wished not to be dressed till Sunday, because I know how much more Dr.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
All at once there began the most horrid, unearthly screaming, which at first startled me badly, though I had soon remembered the voice of Captain Flint and even thought I could make out the bird by her bright plumage as she sat perched upon her master's wrist.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
I am blessed that to-day I come to see you, for I have learn all at once so much that again I am dazzle—dazzle more than ever, and I must think.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Indeed we all did, all at once; and I dare say there was never a greater success.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I wonder if he read that notion in my face; for, all at once, without speaking, he struck suddenly and strongly.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Without knowing when the carriage turned into Vicarage Lane, or when it stopped, they found themselves, all at once, at the door of his house; and he was out before another syllable passed.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
