else

[els]

adjective

1. other than the persons or things mentioned or implied.

   What else could I have done?

2. in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied.

   Who else was there?

3. other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun).

   someone else's money.

adverb

1. if not (usually preceded byor ).

   It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.

2. in some other way; otherwise.

   How else could I have acted?

3. at some other place or time.

   Where else might I find this book?

else

/ ɛls /

determiner

1. in addition; more

   there is nobody else here

2. other; different

   where else could he be?

adverb

1. 1. if not, then

      go away or else I won't finish my work today

   2. or something terrible will result: used as a threat

      sit down, or else!

Grammar Note

The possessive forms of somebody else, everybody else, etc., are somebody else's, everybody else's, the forms somebody's else, everybody's else being considered nonstandard in present-day English. One exception is the possessive for who else, which is occasionally formed as whose else when a noun does not immediately follow: Is this book yours? Whose else could it be? No, it's somebody else's.

Word History and Origins

Origin of else¹

before 1000; Middle English, Old English elles (cognate with Old High German elles ), equivalent to ell- other (cognate with Gothic aljis, Latin alius, Old Irish aile Greek állos, Armenian ayl other; eldritch ) + -es -s 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of else¹

Old English elles, genitive of el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German eli- other, Gothic alja, Latin alius, Greek allos

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. or else, or suffer the consequences.

   Do what I say, or else.

see in someone's (else's) shoes; or else; something else; something else again.

Example Sentences

That, she explained, is why she’s glad to have such a deep catalog — if one album doesn’t resonate now, it might later, when you’re living through something else.

From Salon

That’s kind of unfair, because Scott has kept this particular cause going throughout the ensuing decades under the late Mark E. Smith’s much-quoted philosophy of, “If it’s me and yer granny on bongos, it’s The Fall,” since the band’s first self-titled release in 1983; in other words, even if Scott might be the only original member left, he’s still calling it The Waterboys no matter who else might or might not be around.

From Salon

It’s only a matter of time before somebody grabs the ax to use on someone else before their own blood has dried from its blade.

From Salon

"You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else's throat hoping they'll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross."

From BBC

"My family has had a working dairy farm on the site for generations and we wanted to do something else with the surrounding land," said the 60-year-old former commercial surveyor.

From BBC