everything but the kitchen sink

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Everything.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

mọi thứ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Of course, these applications aren't the fully - featured, everything - but - the - kitchen - sink affairs you get with something like Word for Windows or Quattro Pro.
I've played through it, recorded with it, connected it up to almost everything but the kitchen sink and every time it's delivered either the sound I wanted or something very close.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Common questions

What does “everything but the kitchen sink” mean?

Everything.

Is “everything but the kitchen sink” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.