all but

alternative all-but

1. not comparableVery nearly; everything short of. Most often precedes a verb or adjective.

   The food is all but finished.

   5 more examples

   A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. [...] Now the Jedi are all but extinct.

   1977, George Lucas, Star Wars, spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), 20th Century Fox

   I practice nightly, I try to keep ahead / This art of surfacing is all but dead

   1979, The Boomtown Rats, “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing

   When the first wave of postwar immigrants arrived in Britain in the 1950s and ’60s, it was a period of rising wages, full employment, an expanding welfare state and strong trade unions. Today, Britain’s manufacturing base has all but disappeared, working-class communities have disintegrated, unions have been neutered and the welfare state has begun to crumble.

   2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013

   A stunning performance from the Republic of Ireland all but sealed progress to Euro 2012 as they crushed nine-man Estonia 4-0 in the first leg of the qualifying play-off tie in A Le Coq Arena in Tallinn.

   2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport

   The freight market has changed beyond all recognition from when RAIL was first published. Coal, the then-dominant traffic, has all but disappeared. Instead, maritime intermodal flows have shown steady growth.

   2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69

2. not comparableEverything except. Typically precedes a noun or noun phrase.

   All but three of the students skipped school the day of the parade.

   1 more example

   In the event, higher sale proceeds were achieved by allowing EWS Railway to acquire all but Freightliner, which was sold as a management buy-out.

   2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69