If you go the whole nine yards, you do something to the fullest extent possible. When it comes to lack of common sense, this school went the whole nine yards. The designer's spring collection went the whole nine yards on glamour. Note: You can also use just the whole nine yards to talk about something that exists or is done to the fullest extent possible. She's got a manager, a publicist, the whole nine yards. Note: This expression refers to the amount of cement, nine cubic yards, which is contained in a cement-mixer truck.