all hell breaks loose

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Phrase

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

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

Translations

the situation becomes chaotic

• Dutch: de hel breekt los
• Finnish: helvetti pääsee valloilleen (literally “hell breaks loose”)
• French: l’enfer se déchaîne
• Georgian: დედის ტყვნა ატყდება (dedis ṭq̇vna aṭq̇deba)
• German: die Hölle bricht los (literally “hell breaks loose”), der Teufel ist los (literally “the devil is on the loose”)
• Hungarian: elszabadul a pokol
• Italian: si scatena l'inferno (literally), succede un quarantotto
• Polish: rozpętać piekło pf
• Portuguese: o céu veio abaixo
• Spanish: todo se fue al demonio, se arma la gorda (Mexico)
• Swedish: (hela) helvetet brakar loss