or else

else

E0096400 (ĕls)adj.1. Other; different: Ask somebody else.2. Additional; more: Would you like anything else?adv. In a different or additional time, place, or manner: I always do it this way and I don't know how else it could be done. Where else do you want to go besides Miami?Idiom: or else1. Used to indicate an alternative: We need to eat the leftovers or else buy more food.2. Used to indicate negative consequences that will result if an action is not followed: We need to pay the bill, or else the electricity will be shut off.3. Used after a command or demand to make a threat: Be there on time, or else!

[Middle English elles, from Old English; see al- in Indo-European roots.]Usage Note: Else is often used redundantly in combination with prepositions such as but, except, and besides. The sentence No one else but Sam saw the accident would thus be better without else. · When a pronoun is followed by else, the possessive form is generally written with the 's following else: That must be someone else's (not someone's else) book. Both who else's and whose else are in use, but not whose else's: Who else's book could it have been? Whose else could it have been? · Sometimes the or is dropped from or else so that else functions as a conjunction, as in George Eliot's "My brother is poor, and I want to look as much like him as I can, else he may feel distant from me." This usage is rare in Standard American English, however, and sounds informal or dialectal. See Usage Note at who.

Thesaurus

Adv.

or else - in place of, or as an alternative to; "Felix became a herpetologist instead"; "alternatively we could buy a used car"alternatively, instead

Translations

否则

else

(els) adjective, adverb besides; other than that already mentioned. What else can I do? Can we go anywhere else?; He took someone else's pencil. 其他的，别的，另外的 ˌelseˈwhere adverb in, or to, another place; somewhere or anywhere else. You must look elsewhere if you want a less tiring job. 在别处，到别处 or else otherwise. He must have missed the train – or else he's ill.否则

or else

1. Otherwise; or as a consequence. We need to book our tickets soon, or else start looking into renting a car. Eat your vegetables, or else you're not getting any dessert!2. Or suffer some unspecified consequence. (Used as a threat.) Be there at noon with $5,000 in cash, or else!See also: else

or else

or suffer the consequences. (An inspecific threat of bad consequences.) Do what I tell you, or else. Don't be late for work, or else!See also: else

or else

1. Otherwise, in different circumstances, as in Present your case now, or else you won't have a chance. [c. 1300] 2. Regardless of any extenuating circumstances, no matter what, as in Be there on time or else! [Second half of 1800s] See also: else

or else

1 used to introduce the second of two possibilities: I can’t get through to Sally. She’s out, or else she’s decided not to answer the telephone.
2 (informal) used to threaten or warn somebody: You’d better clean up this mess, or else!See also: else

or else

1. Used to indicate an alternative: We need to eat the leftovers or else buy more food.2. Used to indicate negative consequences that will result if an action is not followed: We need to pay the bill, or else the electricity will be shut off.3. Used after a command or demand to make a threat: Be there on time, or else!See also: else

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Synonyms for or else

adv in place of, or as an alternative to

Synonyms