pull out all the stops

Definition

To hold back or reserve nothing.

Etymology

An allusion to organ stops, which are pulled out to turn on each set of sounds in a pipe organ. When all stops are pulled out, the organ will play all variations of its sounds at once, therefore being as loud as possible.

Example Sentences

• "They pulled out all the stops for the gala wedding."
• "To be a Christian is to be complete in all one's parts: to pull out all the stops of one's nature, and live the Christ life, so that people may say, He lives; and yet no longer he, but Christ lives in him."
• "[T]he entire record is a form of catharsis for its performers. One track is specifically that: the Protest section of Triptych, which Abbey Lincoln pulls out all the stops, and in a fiery release of inhibitions, screams a hair-raising Protest against all those things which a Negro must ordinarily experience in silence."