ours

[ ouuh rz, ou-erz or, often, ahrz ]

/ aʊərz, ˈaʊ ərz or, often, ɑrz /

pronoun

(a form of the possessive case of we used as a predicate adjective): Which house is ours?

that or those belonging to us: Ours was given second prize. Ours are in the car.

QUIZZES

Fend Off Sciolism With This Word Of The Day Quiz

Are you the Cinderella of this week’s quiz? Test your memory on the words and definitions from March 23–29.

Question 1 of 7

schlep

to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly

to fold or wind around something

to carry; lug

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Origin of ours

1250–1300; Middle English (orig. north) ures, oures. See our, 's¹

Words nearby ours

ouranos, ourari, ourie, ourinhos, ourn, ours, ourself, ourselves, ouse, ousel, ouspensky

Definition for ours (2 of 3)

[ wee ]

/ wi /

plural pronoun, possessive our or ours, objective us.

nominative plural of I.

(used to denote oneself and another or others): We have two children. In this block we all own our own houses.

(used to denote people in general): the marvels of science that we take for granted.

(used to indicate a particular profession, nationality, political party, etc., that includes the speaker or writer): We in the medical profession have moral responsibilities.

Also called the royal we. (used by a sovereign, or by other high officials and dignitaries, in place of I in formal speech): We do not wear this crown without humility.

Also called the editorial we. (used by editors, writers, etc., to avoid the too personal or specific I or to represent a collective viewpoint): As for this column, we will have nothing to do with shady politicians.

you (used familiarly, often with mild condescension or sarcasm, as in addressing a child, a patient, etc.): We know that's naughty, don't we? It's time we took our medicine.

(used in the predicate following a copulative verb): It is we who should thank you.

(used in apposition with a noun, especially for emphasis): We Americans are a sturdy lot.

Origin of we

before 900; Middle English, Old English wē; cognate with Dutch wij, German wir, Old Norse vēr, Gothic weis

Definition for ours (3 of 3)

[ ahy ]

/ aɪ /

pronoun, nominative I, possessive my or mine, objective me; plural nominative we, possessive our or ours, objective us.

the nominative singular pronoun, used by a speaker in referring to himself or herself.

noun, plural I's.

(used to denote the narrator of a literary work written in the first person singular).

Metaphysics. the ego.

Origin of I

before 900; Middle English ik, ich, i; Old English ic, ih; cognate with German ich, Old Norse ek, Latin ego, Greek egṓ, OCS azŭ, Lithuanian aš, Sanskrit ahám

usage note for I

See me.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH I

aye eye I

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for ours

In this world of ours, some melodies are just more beautiful than others.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And all kinds of friends of ours have raised money for Mary Landrieu to support her as a candidate.
Hillary Praises Fracking, Stays Silent on Keystone|David Freedlander|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And in a culture as paranoid as ours, we freak out about them all the time.
Valerie Jarrett, Obama Consigliere—and Democracy Killer|James Poulos|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Font, logo, edge finish, surface finish … everything is different from ours,” said Sung Hwang, the general manager.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’|The Center for Investigative Reporting|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In a society as race-crazy as ours, this sort of news is equal parts shocking and unsurprising.
Ex-NFL Linebacker: We Talk Around Race, Not About It|Carl Banks|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their cement for coating walls is like ours; the stucco flat coloured, and the colours mixed with the plaster before laying on.
A Manual of the Historical Development of Art|G. G. (Gustavus George) Zerffi
To repeat: Our intellect is not ours, it does not belong to man, but it together with man belongs to the universe.
The Positive Outcome of Philosophy|Joseph Dietzgen
But you must remember that their sheep weigh less than ours, and I like to see a man make a hearty dinner.
Dariel|R. D. Blackmore
Still I doubt if they get half the enjoyment from their acquisitions that we do who have to save and plan for ours.'
Atlantic Classics|Various
I should judge it to be worth one hundred dollars, so there is evidently "cheating in all trades but ours."
Practical Graining|William E. (William Edmund) Wall

British Dictionary definitions for ours (1 of 6)

ours

/ (aʊəz) /

pronoun

something or someone belonging to or associated with usours have blue tags

of ours belonging to or associated with us

British Dictionary definitions for ours (2 of 6)

I

/ (aɪ) /

noun plural i's, I's or Is

the ninth letter and third vowel of the modern English alphabet

any of several speech sounds represented by this letter, in English as in bite or hit

something shaped like an I
(in combination)an I-beam

dot the i's and cross the t's to pay meticulous attention to detail

British Dictionary definitions for ours (3 of 6)

symbol for

the imaginary number √–1Also called: j

British Dictionary definitions for ours (4 of 6)

/ (wiː) /

pronoun (subjective)

refers to the speaker or writer and another person or other peoplewe should go now

refers to all people or people in generalthe planet on which we live

when used by editors or other writers, and formerly by monarchs, a formal word for I 1
(as noun)he uses the royal we in his pompous moods

informal used instead of you with a tone of persuasiveness, condescension, or sarcasmhow are we today?

Word Origin for we

Old English wē, related to Old Saxon wī, Old High German wir, Old Norse vēr, Danish, Swedish vi, Sanskrit vayam

British Dictionary definitions for ours (5 of 6)

I¹

/ (aɪ) /

pronoun

(subjective) refers to the speaker or writer

Word Origin for I

C12: reduced form of Old English ic; compare Old Saxon ik, Old High German ih, Sanskrit ahám

British Dictionary definitions for ours (6 of 6)

I²

symbol for

chem iodine

physics current

physics isospin

logic a particular affirmative categorial statement, such as some men are married, often symbolized as SiPCompare A, E, O 1

(Roman numeral) oneSee Roman numerals

abbreviation for

Italy (international car registration)

Word Origin for I

(for sense 4) from Latin (aff) i (rmo) I affirm

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

Medical definitions for ours

The symbol for the elementiodine

i The symbol forcurrent

Scientific definitions for ours (1 of 2)

[ ī ]

The number whose square is equal to -1. Numbers expressed in terms of i are called imaginary or complex numbers.

Scientific definitions for ours (2 of 2)

The symbol for electric current.

The symbol for iodine.

Idioms and Phrases with ours

see dot the i's and cross the t's.