Whole Nine Yards

The whole nine yards

"The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way". Its first usage was the punch line of an 1855 Indiana comedic short story titled "The Judge's Big Shirt".

9

9 (nine) is the natural number following 8 and preceding 10.

Yard

The yard is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9144 meter. A distance of 1,760 yards is equal to 1 mile.

whole nine yards

Adverb

1. All the way; with everything done completely or thoroughly.

Noun

1. (And) everything; often used, like etc., to finish out a list.