Everything but the kitchen sink

The idiom “everything but the kitchen sink” means “almost everything”.

To help understand the phrase, imagine you are moving home. You want to take everything with you, but some things are fixed and can’t be moved. One of these things is the kitchen sink. So you take everything but the kitchen sink. (The word “but” is being used to mean “except”.)

You can use the phrase to mean “doing too much”:

Examples:

• We’re only going away for a few days, but you want to take everything but the kitchen sink.
• They’re just coming for a cup of coffee; there’s no need to throw the kitchen sink into the preparations.

You can also use it to talk about someone taking an enormous effort to deal with a situation.

Examples:

• The company wanted to get things right so it put everything but the kitchen sink at solving the problem.
• PSV were so desperate to score another goal that they threw everything but the kitchen sink into attack.

People often use the phrase to say that a piece of equipment has many features – even though some of them might not be really necessary.

Examples:

• This new phone has everything but the kitchen sink.
• His car has lots of optional extras – everything but the kitchen sink.

Sometimes people use a shortened version of the phrase.

Example:

• She’s using a kitchen sink approach.

“Everything but the kitchen sink” uses humour and exaggeration or “hyperbole” to express something. Occasionally you might come across an even more exaggerated (or hyperbolic) form such as:

• Everything, including the kitchen sink.

Idioms with similar meanings include:

• Everything under the sun
• The whole kit and caboodle
• The whole nine yards
• The full monty
• The whole shebang