else
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.
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?
Idioms about else
or else, or suffer the consequences: Do what I say, or else.
Origin of else
1Grammar notes for else
Words Nearby else
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use else in a sentence
This is a great chance to step out of the supporting-someone-else role and shine on her own.
Meet Cathy Russell, Obama’s New Champion for Women | Eleanor Clift | March 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd there are also a few obvious-to-everybody-else explanations for the tendency.
Everything else-even endowments given by private persons a few years before the Act was passed-was swept away.
Is Ulster Right? | AnonymousHe wandered else-whither, and came to something afterwards, poor Spaen.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. VII. (of XXI.) | Thomas CarlyleYou deliberately set out to marry, or else-how tie some emotional cable onto me.
Highways in Hiding | George Oliver Smith
This way shalt thou leave, other-else thou shalt go it on thy foot, for wit thou well thy horse shall be slain.
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II (of II) | Thomas MaloryMany of the original settlers have died; yet, like people else-where, their offspring outnumber those deceased.
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six | Abraham Lincoln
British Dictionary definitions for else
/ (ɛls) /
in addition; more: there is nobody else here
other; different: where else could he be?
or else
if not, then: go away or else I won't finish my work today
or something terrible will result: used as a threat: sit down, or else!
Origin of else
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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.
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