else
[ els ]
/ ɛls /
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?
Idioms for else
or else,
or suffer the consequences: Do what I say, or else.
Origin of else
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
állos, Armenian
ayl other; cf.
eldritch) +
-es -s
1
usage note for else
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.
Words nearby else
British Dictionary definitions for else
else
/ (ɛls) /
determiner (postpositive; used after an indefinite pronoun or an interrogative)
in addition; more
there is nobody else here
other; different
where else could he be?
adverb
or else
- if not, thengo away or else I won't finish my work today
- or something terrible will result: used as a threatsit down, or else!
Word Origin for else
Old English
elles, genitive of
el- strange, foreign; related to Old High German
eli- other, Gothic
alja, Latin
alius, Greek
allos
Idioms and Phrases with else
else
see in someone's (else's) shoes; or else; something else; something else again.