- 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Word OriginMiddle English: a reduced form of the obsolete conjunction other (which superseded Old English oththe ‘or’), of uncertain ultimate origin.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
See or in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee or in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishor 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.’
Check pronunciation:
or