for - What does it mean?
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Definition of 'for'Conjunction
( en-con)
Because.
* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) , Chapter 23
- "By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys to carry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for it would be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler."
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Preposition
( en-prep)
Towards.
- The astronauts headed for the moon.
Directed at, intended to belong to.
- I have something for you.
Supporting (opposite of against ).
- All those for the motion raise your hands.
Because of.
- He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him.
- (UK usage) He looks better for having lost weight.
- She was the worse for drink.
* Shakespeare
- with fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath
Over a period of time.
- They fought for days over a silly pencil.
* Garth
- To guide the sun's bright chariot for a day.
Throughout an extent of space.
* Shakespeare
- For many miles about / There's scarce a bush.
On behalf of.
- I will stand in for him.
Instead of, or in place of.
* Bible, Exodus xxi. 23, 24
- And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for' life, eye '''for''' eye, tooth '''for''' tooth, hand '''for''' hand, foot ' for foot.
In order to obtain or acquire.
- I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday.
- He's going for his doctorate.
- Do you want to go for coffee?
- People all over Greece looked to Delphi for answers.
- Can you go to the store for some eggs?
- I'm saving up for a car.
- Don't wait for an answer.
- What did he ask you for ?
* Denham
- He writes not for' money, nor ' for praise.
In the direction of:
- Run for the hills!
- He was headed for the door when he remembered.
* Francis Bacon
- We sailed from Peru for China and Japan.
By the standards of, usually with the implication of those standards being lower than one might otherwise expect.
- Fair for its day.
- She's spry for an old lady.
Despite, in spite of.
* 1892 August 6, , "The Unbidden Guest", in All the Year Round , ] [http://books.google.com/books?id=XNwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA133&dq=%22but+for%22 page 133,
- Mr. Joseph Blenkinshaw was perhaps not worth quite so much as was reported; but for all that he was a very wealthy man
* 1968 , J. J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (page 240)
- For all his faults, there had been something lofty and great about him - as a judge, as a patron of education, as a builder, as an international figure.
- For that to happen now is incredibly unlikely.'' (=''It is incredibly unlikely that that will happen now. )
- All I want is for you to be happy.'' (=''All I want is that you be happy. )
(chiefly|US) Out of;
-
(cricket) (used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen)
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Indicating that in the character of or as being which anything is regarded or treated; to be, or as being.
* Cowley
- We take a falling meteor for a star.
* John Locke
- If a man can be fully assured of anything for' a truth, without having examined, what is there that he may not embrace ' for true?
* Dryden
- Most of our ingenious young men take up some cry'd-up English poet for their model.
* Philips
- But let her go for an ungrateful woman.
See the entry for the phrasal verb.
(obsolete) Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
- We'll have a bib, for spoiling of thy doublet.
Antonyms
* against
Derived terms
* for good
* for good and all
* for good measure
* for it
* for kicks
* for real
* for the record
* once and for all
Statistics
*
References
* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
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