like anything

like anything idiom
Extremely, vigorously, as in She cried like anything when the dog died. This idiom probably substitutes anything for a swear word. [Colloquial; late 1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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