without

American  

[with-out, with-] / wɪðˈaʊt, wɪθ- /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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adverb

1. formal outside; outwardly

conjunction

1. not_standard unless

   don't come without you have some money

without Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing without

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

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Etymology

Origin of without

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

Example Sentences

The challenge is timing and precision: removing the harmful lingering cells without disrupting the useful early repair signals.

From Science Daily • May 20, 2026

Gibson and Kemp were picked in unison during the New Zealand ODIs without making a real impact.

From BBC • May 20, 2026

In civil cases, average damages awarded by juries in federal courts have climbed sharply since 2020, while those awarded by judges have fluctuated without a pattern, according to an analysis by legal-analytics company Lex Machina.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

They haven’t forecast what impact higher fuel costs could make on the year, but Singh said “we have the ability to absorb it again without coming off of our earnings algorithm.”

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

Mutti paid them no attention, but just walked on without answering, without even looking back.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo