clause🎓 English idiom

all hell broke loose

sudden chaos and uproar erupted

What it means

'All hell broke loose' describes a moment when a situation suddenly turns chaotic, noisy, or out of control. It's used to dramatize an unexpected eruption of shouting, fighting, panic, or general disorder. Common in storytelling and informal conversation.

Examples

  • When the referee made that call, all hell broke loose in the stadium.
  • I told my parents I was dropping out of law school and all hell broke loose.
  • The fire alarm went off during the meeting and all hell broke loose in the office.
  • Everything was calm until the cat knocked over the vase, and then all hell broke loose.

Where it comes from

The phrase comes from John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' (1667), where the gates of Hell are imagined bursting open. By the 1700s it had entered everyday English as a vivid way to describe sudden chaos.

Related idioms

#my mind went blank#take a rain check#through and through#don't play dumb

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