English

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Pronunciation

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Phrase

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all hell breaks loose (simple past all hell broke loose)

  1. (idiomatic) The situation becomes chaotic or characterized by conflict or rage.
    • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. [], London: [] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker []; [a]nd by Robert Boulter []; [a]nd Matthias Walker, [], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: [], London: Basil Montagu Pickering [], 1873, →OCLC:
      Came not all hell broke loose?
    • 1992 August 19, “Beckel, Barnes and Rollins Discuss the Republican Convention”, in CBS Morning:
      I think it's kind of fun because, had Hillary Clinton spoken at the Democratic Convention, all hell would have broken loose.
    • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 2:05 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:
      The U.S. commanders received the news in a moment of stunned silence. Then, all hell broke loose as, off in the distance, antiaircraft fire was spotted as the antisubmarine patrol aircraft made optimistic and recklessly-brave assaults; four aircraft in total, armed with depth charges, attacked over a dozen enemy fleet units.
    • 2023 November 26, Rory Carroll, Lisa O'Carroll, “‘Remember who we are’: riots, race, and the end of the ‘Irish welcome’”, in The Observer[2], →ISSN:
      It was a shocking attack, and within hours all hell had broken loose.

Usage notes

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  • Both as a sentence and a clause this term allows all normal conjugated forms of the verb.

Translations

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