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.

---

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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of without

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

without

There are fears they could delete emails, which Meta has said itself, or charge a credit card without authorization.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Sri Lanka's target was always likely to be beyond them but, even without Jofra Archer or Sam Curran, England ruthlessly dismissed their opponents for 135 in Southampton.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

What actually happened seems more mundane, yet is troubling: Someone gave an AI system the power to act without knowing what it was doing or providing close supervision.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

He was barred that following morning from accessing the facility, and according to the filing, informed by USC that he’d been kicked off the team, without any prior investigation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The next person to speak is Aunt J, but I can’t repeat most of what she said without getting grounded.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold