but

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Apart from, except (for), excluding.

   • Everyone but Father left early.
   • I like everything but that.
   • Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave.
2. 2

   Outside of.

   • Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.
3. 3

   Merely, only, just, no more than

   • Christmas comes but once a year, so we can but wait till then.
   • If they kill us, we shall but die.
   • For to see her was to love her, Love but her, and love for ever.
4. ›+ 18 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Though, however.

      • I'll have to go home early but.
      • "Supposin' the chap ain't dead, but?" Regan persisted.
      • ‘I didn’t like that sheila that tried to latch onto him, but.’
   2. 5

      Used to repeat an adverb for emphasis

      Used to repeat an adverb for emphasis; simply; just; absolutely.

      • I would never, but never do such a thing!
      • “I would never,” said Joan, as she backed the car and worked on the wheel, “but never have allowed my child to go abroad with that old Lesbian.”
      • The Nobel prize for literature is announced tomorrow lunchtime so it's time for the usual annual guessing game here on the Books desk, safe in the knowledge that we always, but always, get it wrong.
   3. 6

      However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (introducing a clause contrary to…

      However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (introducing a clause contrary to prior belief or in contrast with the preceding clause or sentence).

      • She is very old but still attractive.
      • She’s welcomed them but been rude to us.
      • You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not.
   4. 7

      On the contrary, rather (as a regular adversative conjunction, introducing a word or…

      On the contrary, rather (as a regular adversative conjunction, introducing a word or clause in contrast or contradiction with the preceding negative clause or sentence).

      • I am not rich but [I am] poor.  Not John but Peter went there.
      • It’s not so much that we don’t wanna go, but I just haven’t time.
   5. 8

      Used at the beginning of a sentence to express opposition to a remark.

      • But I never said you could do that!
      • In reality, I apprehend every amorous widow on the stage would run the hazard of being condemned as a servile imitation of Dido, but that happily very few of our play-house critics understand enough of Latin to read Virgil.
   6. 9

      Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement)

      Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, (archaic) with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".

      • I cannot but feel offended.
      • My kid does nothing but watch TV all day.
      • And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberèd—
   7. 10

      Used to link an interjection to the following remark as an intensifier.

      • Wow! But that's amazing!
      • Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade / Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made / People passing by, they would stop and say / "Oh, my, but that little country boy could play"
      • Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? / Ooh, but they're so spaced out / B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets / Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful / Oh, Bennie, she's really keen
   8. 11

      Without it also being the case that

      Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).

      • It never rains but it pours
      • I never hear this song but I think of you.
      • No arboret with painted blossomes drest, / And smelling sweet, but there it might be found […]
   9. 12

      Except with

      Except with; unless with; without.

      • This man unable to manage his own happineſſe, grew ſo inſolent that he could not go, but either ſpurning his equals, or trampling on his inferiours.
   10. 13

       Only

       Only; solely; merely.

       • Observe but how their own principles combat one another.
       • a formidable man but to his friends
   11. 14

       Until.

       • 'Tshall not be long but I'll be here again.
   12. 15

       That.

       • It is not impossible but next year I may have the honour of waiting on your Lordship at St. Asaph, If I go to Ireland I certainly will go that way.
       • “I am convinced, if you were to press this matter earnestly upon her, she would consent.” “It is not impossible but she might,” said Madame de Seidlits […].
       • It is not improbable but future observations will add Pliny's Well to the class of irregular reciprocators.
   13. 16

       An instance of using the word "but"

       An instance of using the word "but"; an objection or caveat.

       • It has to be done—no ifs, ands, or buts.
       • But—and this is a big but—you have to come home by sundown.
   14. 17

       The outer room of a small two-room cottage.

   15. 18

       A limit

       A limit; a boundary.

   16. 19

       The end

       The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt.

   17. 20

       Use the word "but".

       • But me no buts.
   18. 21

       A surname.

The neighborhood

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