whole shebang

• whole chebang, whole shebangs, whole shabang

Fixed expression from shebang,[1][2][3] first attested in the United States from the early 1860s, from which time it has increasingly dominated uses of "shebang" itself.

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whole shebang (plural whole shebangs)

1. (idiomatic, with "the") Everything; the entire thing.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:everything

   The festival had balloons, flowers, fireworks, performers, and the whole shebang.

   • 1863, James Bryan, A Short Account of the "Mary Ann" Hospital, Grand Gulf, Miss.‎:

     On the third the whole "chebang" was removed [...]

   • 1924, Harold Hart Crane, letter:[1][2]

     I am growing more and more sick of factions, gossip, jealousies, recriminations, excoriations and the whole literary shee-bang.

   • 2002, Treasure Planet, directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

     Doctor, I'd love to chat. Tea, cake, the whole shebang. But I've got a ship to launch and you've got your outfit to buff up.

   • 2004, Leo Furey, The Long Run, page 331:

     “Food here's pretty good. They don't serve bog juice. Real tea and real coffee. Ice cream, pop, chips. The whole shebang. Every day's a wingding, brother.”

   • 2011, Dave Thompson, 1000 Songs that Rock Your World, page 209:

     Of course, they would win the whole shebang in 1974, when “Waterloo” [won] (sung in English by Swedes about a Frenchman in Belgium— how much more international can one song get?), but the bitter taste of past failures is not something one forgets...

   • 2011, Diane Phillips, Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever with More Than 400 Easy-to-Make Recipes, page 305:

     The whole shebang cooks in the slow cooker, which will keep it warm until you are ready to serve it.