or else

Idioms  

1. Otherwise, in different circumstances, as in Present your case now, or else you won't have a chance . [c. 1300]

2. Regardless of any extenuating circumstances, no matter what, as in Be there on time or else! [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

One win must become two or else the significance of what happened at Murrayfield goes away like so many of the other victories over England.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

Still more people have been surveilled and captured in DHS databases, with federal agents in some cases holding cellphones inches from their faces to scan their features, or else taking pictures of their license plates.

From Salon • Feb. 14, 2026

“I had to create this character or else I was going to become him.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

But the companies still have to make money, Windsor said, or else “the whole proposition will grind to a halt while the market figures out the economic way forward.”

From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026

All the while Char’s eyes are saying I better take the blame, or else.

From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake