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

WSJ readers tell us how they think we will divert ourselves 20 years from now.

From The Wall Street Journal

When it comes to smog, let’s not congratulate ourselves too much; it was technology that did the heavy lifting, not demanding much in the way of sacrifice or even change in our behavior.

From Los Angeles Times

The policy could also scare off other mining investment, he said, asking: "Are we putting ourselves out of competition?"

From Barron's

“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”

From The Wall Street Journal

We could see ourselves and our own lives in the characters on the screen and the situations in which they found themselves.

From The Wall Street Journal