from stem to stern
The phrase "from stem to stern" originates from nautical terminology, referring to the entire length of a vessel, and is now used to describe thoroughness in various contexts.
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Definition
B2Nautical
(technical)Over the full length of a ship or boat, from the front end to the back end.
Example
- The crew cleaned the deck from stem to stern.
B2General
(idiomatic)From one end to the other; thoroughly or completely.
Example
- They renovated the house from stem to stern.
- The document was reviewed from stem to stern.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "from stem to stern":
head to toenose to tailfrom top to bottomfrom soup to nutsthrough and throughfrom the rooter to the tooterfore and aftall the wayback to frontthe whole nine yards