ELSE Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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else

[ els ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

other than the persons or things mentioned or implied:
What else could I have done?
in addition to the persons or things mentioned or implied:
Who else was there?
other or in addition (used in the possessive following an indefinite pronoun):
someone else's money.

adverb

if not (usually preceded by or ):
It's a macaw, or else I don't know birds.
in some other way; otherwise:
How else could I have acted?
at some other place or time:
Where else might I find this book?

else

/ ɛ�� /

determiner

in addition; more
there is nobody else here
other; different
where else could he be?

adverb

or else
1. if not, then
  go away or else I won't finish my work today
2. or something terrible will result: used as a threat
  sit down, or else!

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Grammar Note

The possessive forms of somebody else, everybody else, etc., are somebody else's, everybody else's, the forms somebody's else, everybody's else being considered nonstandard in present-day English. One exception is the possessive for who else, which is occasionally formed as whose else when a noun does not immediately follow: Is this book yours? Whose else could it be? No, it's somebody else's.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of else¹

before 1000; Middle English, Old English elles (cognate with Old High German elles ), equivalent to ell- other (cognate with Gothic aljis, Latin alius, Old Irish aile Greek á��ǲ�, Armenian ayl other; eldritch ) + -es -s 1

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of else¹

Old English elles, genitive of el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German eli- other, Gothic alja, Latin alius, Greek allos

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Idioms and Phrases

or else, or suffer the consequences:
Do what I say, or else.

More idioms and phrases containing else

see in someone's (else's) shoes ; or else ; something else ; something else again .

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Rick had a white shirt in Episode 7, but with 90 minutes in Episode 8, it could be someone else.

From

She added: “It’s the ultimate creative act. The most ecstatic moments of life and art are the transcendent ones. Having children is like that. You combine your DNA with someone else to create a new life.”

From

Ch Supt Esyr Jones of South Wales Police said the area was "no different to anywhere else" in seeing rising knife crime.

From

Grisham said that poverty and family dysfunction also marred the region, and it was no different there from anywhere else.

From

Far more likely, De Bruyne will play for Belgium in their World Cup qualifiers with North Macedonia and Wales at the beginning of June and then take a break before starting the next phase of his career somewhere else in July.

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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