Standard Lemma guide

caboodle

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːdəl
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 B UW1 D AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any large collection of things or people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any collection in its entirety

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she bought the whole caboodle

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bunch, lot

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: collection, aggregation, accumulation, assemblage

History

Etymology

US slang, mid 19th century, thought to be a corruption of kitboodle, from kit + boodle. "The whole boodle" is attested in the 1830s, and "the whole caboodle" in 1848.