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if - What does it mean?

Definition of 'if'

English

(wikipedia)

Conjunction

(en-con)
  • Supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that;
    • If it rains, I will get wet .
  • Supposing that;
    • I'd prefer it if you took your shoes off.
  • Although;
    • He was a great friend, if a little stingy at the bar.
  • (computing) In the event that a statement is true (a programming statement that acts in a similar manner).
    • If A, then B, else C.
  • Whether;
    • I don't know if I want to go or not.
  • * 1715–1717 , , Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind , Canto III:
    • Quoth Matthew, “”
  • (usually hyperbolic) Even if; even in the circumstances that.
  • * 2004', (singers), “'''If It’s The Last Thing I Do” (song), in ''You Do Your Thing (album):
    • If' it’s the last thing I do / '''If''' it takes me from Tubilo to Timbuktu / '''If''' it’s the last thing I do / I’m gonna dodge every road block, speed trap, county cop / To get my hands on you / ' If it’s the last thing I do.

    Usage notes

    * Specifically a subordinating conjunction.

    Derived terms

    * iff * if and only if * if clause * if only * as if * even if * if so be

    Alternative forms

    * ifen * iffen

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (informal) An uncertainty, possibility, condition, doubt etc.
  • * 1709, Susannah Centlivre, The Busy Body'', Act III, in John Bell (ed.), ''British Theater , J. Bell (1791), page 59,
    • Sir Fran.'' Nay, but Chargy, if——— ¶ ''Miran.'' Nay, Gardy, no Ifs'''.——Have I refus'd three northern lords, two British peers, and half a score knights, to have put in your ' Ifs ?
  • * 1791 January, "Richard?on’s Chemical Principles of the Metallic Arts''", in ''The Monthly Review , R. Griffiths, page 176,
    • Well might Bergman add, (in his Sciographia,''), “if the compari?on that has been made, &c. be ju?t.” The pre?ent writer makes no ''ifs about the matter, and has ?uperadded a little inaccuracy of his own, […]
  • * {{quote-news|year=2013|date=April 9|author=Andrei Lankov|title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.|work=New York Times citation
    • |passage=Even if they managed to strike Japan, the United States or South Korea with nuclear weapons — a big if , given that they do not have a reliable delivery system — they could not save themselves from ultimate defeat.}}

    Derived terms

    * big if *

    See also

    * and * else * false * or * then * true

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * 100 English basic words English subordinating conjunctions English two-letter words 1000 English basic words ----

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