without

[with-out, with-]

preposition

1. with the absence, omission, or avoidance of; not with; with no or none of; lacking.

   without help; without shoes; without her helping me; without him to help.

2. free from; excluding.

   a world without hunger.

3. not accompanied by.

   Don't go without me.

4. at, on, or to the outside of; outside of.

   both within and without the house or the city.

5. beyond the compass, limits, range, or scope of (now used chiefly in opposition towithin ).

   whether within or without the law.

adverb

1. in or into an exterior or outer place; outside.

2. outside a house, building, etc..

   The carriage awaits without.

3. lacking something implied or understood.

   We must take this or go without.

4. as regards the outside; externally.

noun

1. the outside of a place, region, area, room, etc.

conjunction

1. Midland and Southern U.S.,  unless.

without

/ wɪˈðaʊt /

preposition

1. not having

   a traveller without much money

2. not accompanied by

   he came without his wife

3. not making use of

   it is not easy to undo screws without a screwdriver

4. (foll by a verbal noun or noun phrase) not, while not, or after not

   she can sing for two minutes without drawing breath

5. archaic,  on the outside of

adverb

1. formal,  outside; outwardly

conjunction

1. not_standard,  unless

   don't come without you have some money

Word History and Origins

Origin of without¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English withouten, Old English withūtan (adverb and preposition); equivalent to with + out

Idioms and Phrases

• absent without leave
• do without
• get along without
• go without saying
• no smoke without fire

Example Sentences

What would the world be without color?

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Our “contemporary age,” he laments, “likes to signal its own virtue by calling out others without looking at the nuances of the case.”

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“Music,” Mr. Williams believes, “is an essential nutrient. Without it, we are incomplete.”

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The tardigrade’s secret, we learn, lies in its ability “to live without that most precious resource of life”: In times of trial or scarcity, they self-dessicate, losing 98% of their bodies’ water.

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Animals without a backbones evolved first, around 700 million years ago.

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