What does either or mean

Test your visual vocabulary with our question challenge! Love words? Need even more definitions? Just between us: it's complicated. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice? As a conjunction, either often introduces a series of more than two: The houses were finished with either cedar siding or stucco or brick. The pizza is topped with either anchovies, green peppers, or mushrooms.

Usage guides say that the verb used with subjects joined by the correlative conjunctions either … or or neither … nor is singular or plural depending on the number of the noun or pronoun nearer the verb: Either the parents or the school determines the program. Either the school or the parents determine the program. Practice in this matter varies, however, and often the presence of one plural, no matter what its position, results in a plural verb: Either the parents or the school determine the program.

In carefully edited writing, these correlative conjunctions are usually placed so that what follows the first correlative is parallel to what follows the second: The damage was done by either the wind or vandals or either by the wind or by vandals not done either by the wind or vandals.

See also neither. Words nearby either Eisenstaedt , Eisenstein , eish , Eisk , eisteddfod , either , either-or , Eivissa , EJ , ejaculate , ejaculation. Words related to either one. How to use either in a sentence Harris is unlikely to see a challenge from Villaraigosa, either. The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. Napoleon's Marshals R. Rosemary in Search of a Father C.

From the Hansard archive. Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3. It is important that there should be an either - or choice. As he said, it is not an either - or situation. I do not think that this is an either - or situation. See all examples of either-or. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of either-or? Eisenmenger syndrome. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day goodwill. Blog Outsets and onsets! Read More. November 08, To top. English Examples.