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if
1[ if ]
conjunction
- in case that; granting or supposing that; on condition that:
Sing if you want to. Stay indoors if it rains. I'll go if you do.
- even though:
an enthusiastic if small audience.
- whether:
He asked if I knew Spanish.
- (used to introduce an exclamatory phrase):
If only Dad could see me now!
- when or whenever:
If it was raining, we had to play inside.
noun
- a supposition; uncertain possibility:
The future is full of ifs.
- a condition, requirement, or stipulation:
There are too many ifs in his agreement.
if
2IF
1abbreviation for
- intermediate frequency
if
2/ ɪf /
conjunction
- in case that, or on condition that
if you try hard it might work
if he were poor, would you marry him?
- used to introduce an indirect question. In this sense, if approaches the meaning of whether
- even though
an attractive if awkward girl
- used to introduce expressions of desire, with only
if I had only known
- used to introduce exclamations of surprise, dismay, etc
if this doesn't top everything!
- as ifas it would be if; as though
he treats me as if I were junior to him
noun
- an uncertainty or doubt
the big if is whether our plan will work at all
- a condition or stipulation
I won't have any ifs or buts
Usage Note
Word History and Origins
Origin of if1
Word History and Origins
Origin of if1
Idioms and Phrases
- ifs, ands, or buts, reservations, restrictions, or excuses:
I want that job finished today, and no ifs, ands, or buts.
More idioms and phrases containing if
- as if
- damned if I do, damned if I don't
- make as if to
- no ifs or buts
- nothing if not
- (if) push comes to shove
- what if
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
It requires that likely answers be anticipated, that elaborate “if/then” scenarios be war-gamed.
If they abused that power, it would be noticed-if not by the press, then by their colleagues, and if noticed, then punished.
Seems like people in dangerous neighborhoods are braver and trust in God more than people in safer neighborhoods-if you ask me.
That is, when things are going well, no one feels compelled to spend money on a what-if project.
Andrew hopes he sees in this division the seeds of a "return to sanity" if/after Romney loses.
If-itty-teshi-mow Jays Haddee ny up-plo-now-shi-buh nays;ha!
It is a succession of short notes rapidly uttered, as if the bird said "if-if-if-if-if-if-if."
By all the gods!if he had only known Who held him between life and death upon the Mauvais Pas!
Sir S. returned the nod stiffly, with an "I-wonder-if-I-really-do know-you,-or-if-this-is-a-trick-to-claim-acquaintance?"
If so, I knew him now for a fiend in very truth!if burning horror and endless shame can so transfigure the soul of man!
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from 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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