Pronunciations (13)
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/ə(ɹ)/
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/ɔː(ɹ)/
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/ɚ/
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/oɹ/
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/ɑɹ/
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[ɚ]
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[əɹ]
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[oːɹ]
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[ɔ(ː)ɹ]
Pronunciation notes
- dialectal
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/ʔɹ/
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/ʌɹ/
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/oɹ/
Pronunciation notes
- US
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/ɔː(ɹ)/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
Conjunction
Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
- Examples
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You may stay or go.
He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what.
An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms: the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.
Otherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).
- Examples
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It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold!
More examples (1)
No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
Connects two equivalent names.
- Examples
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The country Myanmar, or Burma
Used in between two numbers to denote a range between them.
- Examples
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A man of 18 or 20 years
Noun
The gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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The metals are gold and silver, these being termed "or" and "argent".
In engraving, "Or" is expressed by dots.
Adjective
Of gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.
Usage- not-comparable
- Synonyms
Adverb
Early (on).
Usage- Obsolete
Earlier, previously.
Usage- Obsolete
Preposition
Before; ere. Generally followed by “ever” or “e'er”.
Usage- Archaic
- dialectal
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Or euer the siluer corde be loosed, or the golden bowle be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountaine, or the wheele broken at the cisterne. Then shall the dust returne to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall returne vnto God who gaue it.
I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust.
More examples (1)
And Time went forth into the worlds to obey the commands of the gods, yet he cast furtive glances at his masters, and the gods distrusted Time because he had known the worlds or ever the gods became.