ourselves

American  

[ahr-selvz, ou^uhr-, ou-er-] / ɑrˈsɛlvz, aʊər-, ˌaʊ ər- /

pronoun

1. a reflexive form of we (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the direct object of a preposition).

   We are deceiving ourselves. Give us a moment to ourselves.

2. (used as an intensive withwe ).

   We ourselves would never say such a thing.

3. Informal. (used in place of we or us, especially in compound subjects, objects, and complements).

   The children and ourselves thank you kindly. When it satisfies ourselves, it will be ready to market. The ones who really want the new system are the manager and ourselves.

4. (used in place of we or us after as, than, orbut ).

   How many parents are as fortunate as ourselves? No one loves skiing more than ourselves. Nobody heard it but ourselves.

5. our customary, normal, or healthy selves.

   After a good rest, we're almost ourselves again.

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ourselves British  

/ aʊəˈsɛlvz /

pronoun

1. 1. the reflexive form of we or us

   2. (intensifier)

      we ourselves will finish it

2. (preceded by a copula) our usual selves

   we are ourselves when we're together

3. not_standard used instead of we or us in compound noun phrases

   other people and ourselves

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Usage

See myself.

Etymology

Origin of ourselves

1300–50; Middle English oure selven; our, self, -en ⁴, -s ³

Example Sentences

These chance encounters with strangers that we maybe don’t know that we need to have met on our journey, that are a chance for us to express ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times

We ought to be careful about ridding ourselves of all boredom, lest we lose our creativity in the process.

From The Wall Street Journal

“But sometimes a blessing comes our way. And as we reach ourselves out of the darkness of loss, light can reach us.”

From Los Angeles Times

We’ll concern ourselves now with the nominations on the film side, as the guild’s awards are usually one of the most accurate bellwethers for the Oscars.

From Los Angeles Times

"We expressly distance ourselves from all actions of recent years," it said.

From BBC