all but

[yuheci]

Humanity last beat back an enterovirus via vaccination when polio was all but eradicated in the late 1980s.

May I ask what is the real meaning of "all but" in the above sentence.

Thanks.

Yu Heci

 

[bhaisahab]

It means 'very nearly', 'almost'.

 

[yuheci]

It means 'very nearly', 'almost'.

May I further ask that the "all but" in the following citing sentences (from 'Solving Sudoko' ) also means 'very nearly','almost' or others:

"In the following example, filtering has been added so only candidate 9's are visible. (Cells which contain the filtered candidate are automatically highlighted pale green in Simple Sudoku unless subsequently recolored - which is the case for all but one cell in this example). It is easy to see that there are a number of conjugate relationships allowing alternate coloring in a chain."

Many thanks.

Yu Heci

 

[emsr2d2]

In that example, "all but one cell" means "every cell except one cell".

 

[yuheci]

I will be appreciated very much if You could point out any mistake in my posts (including this note).
Thank you so much for your help and time.
Yu Heci

 

[andrewg927]

"I will appreciate it very much if..." and you don't need to capitalize "You".

 

[Rover_KE]

Also '...any mistakes'.