else
[ els ]
/ ɛls /
adjective
other than the persons or things mentioned or implied: What else could I have done?
in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied: Who else was there?
other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun): someone else's money.
adverb
if not (usually preceded by or): It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.
in some other way; otherwise: How else could I have acted?
at some other place or time: Where else might I find this book?
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Idioms for else
or else, or suffer the consequences: Do what I say, or else.
Origin of else
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; cf. eldritch) + -es -s1
usage note for else
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.
Words nearby else
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for else
else
/ (ɛls) /
determiner (postpositive; used after an indefinite pronoun or an interrogative)
in addition; morethere is nobody else here
other; differentwhere else could he be?
adverb
or else
- if not, thengo away or else I won't finish my work today
- or something terrible will result: used as a threatsit down, or else!
Word Origin for else
Old English elles, genitive of el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German eli- other, Gothic alja, Latin alius, Greek allos
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with else
else
see in someone's (else's) shoes; or else; something else; something else again.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.