from aardvark to zymurgy

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English

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Etymology

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In reference to the first and last major words in many English dictionaries.

Prepositional phrase

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from aardvark to zymurgy

  1. (informal) Synonym of from A to Z: from the beginning to the end; covering everything comprehensively.
    • 1952, John David Marshall, editor, Books, Libraries, Librarians: Contributions to Library Literature, Shoe String Press, page 86:
      What a glorious prospect—to be alone on an island, with an opportunity to sit back against a banana tree, and read all the way from aardvark to zymurgy!
    • 1996, Chang-Rae Lee, Native Speaker[1], Penguin, →ISBN:
      I read my entire children's encyclopedia, drilling from aardvark to zymurgy. I never made an error at shortstop.
    • 2002, Melvin A. Benarde, You've Been Had!:
      Researchers expect and anticipate that their work will be scrutinized by other scientists and whatever the object of study, from Aardvark to Zymurgy, it is certain to be researched by a plethora of investigators from Stockholm to Shanghai to San Francisco[.]

See also

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