caboodle
/kəˈbuːd(ə)l
/(also kaboodle)
noun (in phrase the whole caboodle or the whole kit and caboodle) informal
The whole number or quantity of people or things in question: sort out your best snaps, complete the entry form, and pop the whole caboodle into an envelope addressed to us once you get them talking about one case, they might as well settle the whole kit and caboodle...
- Ah yes, I love cartoons, animation, the whole kit and caboodle.
- Yes, it's a truly woeful collection that for some reason my mother decided to ship over to me here, the whole kit and caboodle.
- The first floor is accessory heaven, bags, sunglasses, scarves, the whole kit and caboodle.
Origin
Mid 19th century (originally US): perhaps from the phrase kit and boodle, in the same (see kit1, boodle).
The caboodle in the expression the whole caboodle or the whole kit and caboodle, meaning ‘the whole lot’, is a mysterious word. The phrase was originally the whole kit, and later the whole kit and boodle. Boodle meant ‘a lot, a crowd’, or ‘money’, and may be connected to Dutch boedel, meaning ‘possessions’. See also kit