noun
1: The full amount or complement, everything. (1985 —) . Popularized by the (1997) film The Full Monty.
Guardian When conducting a funeral he wears the full monty; frock coat, top hat and a Victorian cane with metal tip (1995).
2: to do (or go) the Full Monty to strip, do a striptease; used esp. of men. (1997 —) .
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle) Bingo boys do the Full Monty—Cheeky callers in sponsored strip for charity calendar [headline] (2001).
[Origin uncertain: of the many possibilities put forward, the likeliest is that the original reference was to a full suit of men's clothes as supplied by the firm of Montague Burton. In sense 2, from the film The Full Monty (see above), in which some unemployed Sheffield steelworkers become strippers to earn some money.]
| full, fugly, fudge factor | |
| full whack, fully, fundi |
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