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forever

[fawr-ev-er, fer-]
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adverb
  1. without ever ending; eternally: to last forever.
  2. continually; incessantly; always: He's forever complaining.
  3. lasting for an endless period of time: the process of finding a forever home for the dog.
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noun
  1. an endless or seemingly endless period of time: It took them forever to make up their minds.
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Idioms
  1. forever and a day, eternally; always: They pledged to love each other forever and a day.
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Origin of forever

First recorded in 1300–50; orig. phrase for ever
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for forever and a day

forever

adverb
  1. Also: for ever without end; everlastingly; eternally
  2. at all times; incessantly
  3. informal for a very long timehe went on speaking forever
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noun
  1. (as object) informal a very long timeit took him forever to reply
  2. …forever! an exclamation expressing support or loyaltyScotland forever!
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usage

Forever and for ever can both be used to say that something is without end. For all other meanings, forever is the preferred form
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

Word Origin and History for forever and a day

forever

adv.

late 14c., for ever; from for + ever. One word from late 17c.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with forever and a day

forever and a day

1

For a very long time, as in He's been working on that book forever and a day. This hyperbolic expression probably originated as a corruption of the now obsolete for ever and ay. Shakespeare used it in The Taming of the Shrew (4:4): “Farewell for ever and a day.” Today it is mainly a substitute for “very long time.” [c. 1600]

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2

Incessantly, ceaselessly, as in Will this racket never end? It's been going on forever and a day. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.