or
conjunction /ɔː(r)/
/ɔːr/
Idioms - used to introduce another possibility
- Is your sister older or younger than you?
- Are you coming or not?
- Is it a boy or a girl?
Homophones oar | or | oreoar or ore/ɔː(r)//ɔːr/- oar noun
- We took one oar each and started rowing.
- or conjunction
- Do you want cheese or jam in your sandwich?
- ore noun
- The country has rich deposits of iron ore.
- used in negative sentences when mentioning two or more things
- He can't read or write.
- There are people without homes, jobs or family.
- (also or else)used to warn or advise somebody that something bad could happen; otherwise
- Turn the heat down or it'll burn.
- used between two numbers to show approximately how many
- There were six or seven of us there.
- used to introduce a word or phrase that explains or means the same as another
- geology, or the science of the earth’s crust
- It weighs a kilo, or just over two pounds.
- used to say why something must be true
- He must like her, or he wouldn't keep calling her.
- used to introduce a different or opposite idea
- He was lying—or was he?
Word OriginMiddle English: a reduced form of the obsolete conjunction other (which superseded Old English oththe ‘or’), of uncertain ultimate origin.
Idioms
or so
- about; approximately
- It'll cost €100 or so.
or somebody/something/somewhere | somebody/something/somewhere or other
- (informal) used when you are not exactly sure about a person, thing or place
- He's a factory supervisor or something.
- ‘Who said so?’ ‘Oh, somebody or other. I can't remember who it was.’