Word.ws English Dictionary

but for

but for preposition: except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for; had it not been for.

Preposition

but for

  1. Except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for; had it not been for.
    • I’d’ve attended but for the fact that the train was late.
    • I once did lend my body for his wealth,
      Which, but for him that had your husband's ring,
      Had quite miscarried: […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. despite; in spite of

Adjective

but for (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to a test of causation whereby an agent or action is considered to have caused an event (and therefore to be responsible and/or liable for said event) if, had said agent or action not existed, the event would not have taken place.
    • This relevance can in many cases, as here, be tested by the sine qua non or ‘but for’ rule.1985, Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart, Tony Honoré, Causation in the Law, page xlv
    • When the expert constructs the "but for" world, he or she must construct it by taking into account how the plaintiff could have adjusted or did adjust to the changed circumstances.2003, Mark A. Glick, Lara A. Reymann, Richard Hoffman, Intellectual Property Damages: Guidelines and Analysis, Wiley, →ISBN, page 37

but for meaning in Malayalam

but for in Malayalam

except for, if it were not for, were it not for
ഒഴികെ, ഒഴിച്ച്, അങ്ങനെയല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ, ഇല്ലായിരുന്നുവെങ്കിൽ, അതൊഴികെ, അതൊഴിച്ച്

Examples of but for in a sentence

  • But for that beneficent drug, not one of those men would have slept a moment during that fearful night.1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London...
  • In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old woman remained otherwise empty, Mr.1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Carew Murder Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and...
  • In reconditioning existing locomotives, carriages and wagons, it is intended to replace obsolete types which would have been scrapped but for the war and to embody the latest scientific improvements.1945 March and April, “Higher speeds”, in Railway Magazine, page 67:
  • But for the stinging cold of January, this Casanova would not have taken shelter behind the coffeehouse window, […].1992, Najīb Maḥfūẓ, Sugar Street, page 48:

Forms of but for

alternative formbut-for

Words formed from but for

Questions about but for

What does but for mean?
But for means except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for; had it not been for.
What is but for in Malayalam?
But for in Malayalam is ഒഴികെ, ഒഴിച്ച്, അങ്ങനെയല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ. See But for meaning in Malayalam.
How do you use but for in a sentence?
But for that beneficent drug, not one of those men would have slept a moment during that fearful night.
What part of speech is but for?
But for can be a preposition or an adjective.

Words near but for in the dictionary

  1. busynesse
  2. busynesses
  3. busywork
  4. but
  5. but and ben
  6. but for
  7. but for the grace of God
  8. but good
  9. but hey
  10. but if
  11. but me no buts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: but for (page history and authors); but for (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “but for.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/but_for. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.