DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Or, prep. & adv.  Ere; before; sooner than. [Obs.]
 But natheless, while I have time and space,
 Or that I forther in this tale pace.   --Chaucer.
 Or ever, Or ere. See under Ever, and Ere.

 Ev·er adv.  [Sometimes contracted into e'er.]
 1. At any time; at any period or point of time.
    No man ever yet hated his own flesh.   --Eph. v. 29.
 2. At all times; through all time; always; forever.
 He shall ever love, and always be
 The subject of by scorn and cruelty.   --Dryder.
 3. Without cessation; continually.
 Note: ☞ Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of enforcement. “His the old man e'er a son?”
    To produce as much as ever they can.   --M. Arnold.
 Ever and anon, now and then; often. See under Anon.
 Ever is one, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
 Ever so, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated adjective or adverb. See Never so, under Never.   “Let him be ever so rich.” --Emerson.
 And all the question (wrangle e'er so long),
 Is only this, if God has placed him wrong.   --Pope.
    You spend ever so much money in entertaining your equals and betters.   --Thackeray.
 -- For ever, eternally. See Forever.
 For ever and a day, emphatically forever. --Shak.
    She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful laughter, out of sight for ever and day.   --Prof. Wilson.
 -- Or ever (for or ere), before. See Or, ere. [Archaic]
 Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
 Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio!   --Shak.
 Note: ☞ Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen, but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever memorable, ever watchful, ever burning.
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