Word.ws English Dictionary

for

/fɔː//fɔɹ/

for conjunction: because.

Conjunction

for

  1. (formal, literary) Because.
    • I had to stay with my wicked stepmother, for I had nowhere else to go.
    • […]Dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skillful and deadly.c. 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act 3, scene 4

Preposition

for

  1. Towards; in the direction of.
    • The astronauts headed for the moon.
    • Run for the hills!
  2. Leading towards in time or circumstance.
    • We're heading for bankruptcy.
    • He's set for graduating this year.
  3. Directed at; intended to belong to.
    • I have something for you.
    • Maya Erwin, Vice President of Marketing & Innovation at Blue Diamond added in a press release: “Partnering with Mike’s Hot Honey allowed us to create something truly unique for snack lovers.2025 March 5, Ayomari, “Blue Diamond Almonds Gets Swicy With Mike’s Hot Honey”, in Foodbeast, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2025
  4. In order to help, benefit, gratify, honor etc. (someone or something).
    • Everything I do, I do for you.
    • We're having a birthday party for Janet.
  5. Befitting of someone’s beliefs, needs, wants, skills, or tastes; best suited to.
    • I’ll strike a blow for you.
    • If having to bag the groceries correctly is more than you can handle, then this isn't the job for you.
  6. To be used or treated in a stated way, or with a stated purpose or meaning.
    • This is a new bell for my bicycle.
    • The cake is for Tom and Helen's anniversary.
  7. Supporting, in favour of.
    • All those for the motion, raise your hands.
    • Who's for ice-cream?
    Antonyms:
    against, at
  8. Because of.
    • He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him.
    • He looks better for having lost weight.
  9. In order to cure, remove or counteract.
    • I need to spray my house for termites.
    • The doctor treated me for arthritis.
  10. So as to allow (something or someone) to take position.
    • Make way for the president!
    • Clear the shelves for our new Christmas stock!
  11. In anticipation of.
    • Stand by for your cue.
    • Prepare for battle.
  12. As an evaluation of; as to evaluate in connection with.
    • I am grading for style on this paper.
    • History will judge you for your actions.
Show 22 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. So as to identify or locate.
    • They swept the area for enemy operatives.
    • Police combed his flat for clues.
  2. Over (a period of time).
    • I've lived here for three years.
    • They fought for days over a silly pencil.
  3. Throughout or across (a distance in space).
    • I can see for miles.
    • For many miles about / There's scarce a bush.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  4. Used to introduce a subject of a to-infinitive clause.
    • It seems unreasonable for our boss to withhold our wages.
    • I don't think it's a good idea for you and me to meet.
  5. On behalf of.
    • I will stand in for him.
    • I speak for the Prime Minister.
  6. In the role or capacity of; instead of; in place of.
    • I used a hay bale for a bed.
    • He's got a turnip for a brain.
  7. In exchange for; in correspondence or equivalence with.
    • I got five hundred pounds for that old car!
    • He matched me blow for blow.
  8. In order to obtain or acquire.
    • I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday.
    • He's going for his doctorate.
  9. By the standards of, usually with the implication that those standards are lower than one might otherwise expect; considering as an example of a role or of limitations.
    • Fair for its day.
    • She's spry for an old lady.
  10. To be, or as being.
    • Don't take me for a fool.
    • 17th century Abraham Cowley, Of Wit
      We take a falling meteor for a star.
  11. (usually in the phrase ‘for all’) Despite, in spite of.
    • For all his expensive education, he didn't seem very bright.
    • "You must keep your head. There is still hope." "Hope!" "Yes; plentiful hope -- for all this destruction!"1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 113
  12. Indicating something desired or anticipated.
    • O for the wings of a dove.
    • Ah! for wings to soar …
  13. Introducing the first item(s) in a potential sequence .
    • Go scuba diving? For one thing, I can't even swim.
    • For another, we don't have any equipment.
  14. (US) In honor of; after.
    • He is named for his grandfather.
  15. (UK) Due for or facing (a certain outcome or fate).
    • He totally screwed up that project. Now he's surely for the sack.
  16. (US) Out of; used to indicate a fraction, a ratio
    • In term of base hits, Jones was three for four on the day
  17. For the price of.
    • Special offer: three for two.
  18. Used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen.
    • At close of play, England were 305 for 3.
  19. (obsolete) Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.
    • We'll have a bib, for spoiling of thy doublet.1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene v
  20. (nonstandard) So (that), in order to.
    • He took the swing shift for he could get more overtime.
  21. Used in various other more-or-less idiomatic ways to construe individual verbs, indicating various semantic relationships such as target, purpose, result, etc.; see also the entries for individual phrasal verbs, e.g. ask for, look for, stand for, etc.
    • to account for one's whereabouts to care for a relative to settle for second best to allow for mistakes
  22. Used to introduce a variable subject to quantification, or to establish a restricting domain for a subsequent mathematical statement.
    • The identity f(x+y) = f(x) + f(y) holds for all x,y ∈ G.2008, Terence Tao, Structure and Randomness: Pages from Year One of a Mathematical Blog, American Mathematical Society, →ISBN, page 43
    • For each set A, there is a set B whose elements are exactly the subsets of A.
    • For x > 0, the function ln(x) is strictly increasing.2014, Herbert B. Enderton, Elements of Set Theory, Academic Press, page 19

Particle

for

  1. (dated, African-American Vernacular) To; (the particle for marking the following verb as an infinitive).
    • Ugh—I’ll not be able for get up. Send for M’sieu le Curé—I’ll be goin’ for die for sure.1896, McClure's magazine, page 270
    • [It was a] firs rate place for shoot a woodcocks, I tell you. […] I say [it] wass no use for spen money. […] An I say in "So wass I. I see lot of sy-pokes fly up an twist off like screw-cork an spit whistle, but I wass'nt able for get aim on him."1898 December 17, “Mr. Owens' Experience”, in Forest and Stream, volume 51, page 485

Noun capitalized: FOR

FOR

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of field Of research.
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of frame of reference.

Proper noun capitalized: FOR

FOR

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Fellowship of Reconciliation, any of a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries.

for meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

for in Hindi

because
क्योंकि kyõki
towards
की तरफ़ kī taraf
directed at, intended to belong to
... के लिए ... ke lie
because of
क्योंकि kyõki

for in Marathi

directed at, intended to belong to
साठी sāṭhī

for in Urdu

directed at, intended to belong to
... کے لئے ... ke lie, کیلئے keliye, برائے barāe

for in Bengali

towards
দিকে dike
directed at, intended to belong to
জন্য jônnô
because of
জন্য jônnô
over (a period of time)
ধরে dhore, জন্য jônnô
More languagesFewer languages
for in Telugu
కోసము kōsamu
for in Kannada
ಗೋಸ್ಕರ gōskara
for in Punjabi
ਲਈ laī
for in Sanskrit
हि hi
for in Pashto
ځکه, خواته
for in Tagalog
dahil, kasi, palibhasa, sapagkat
for in Arabic
لِأَنَّ liʔanna, لِـ li-, لِأَجْل liʔajl, بِالنِّسْبَة لِـ
for in Malay
kerana, sebab, lantaran, untuk
for in Indonesian
untuk, bagi
for in Persian
برای barâye, برای اینکه barâye inke
for in Thai
เพื่อ pʉ̂ʉa, ไปยัง, ไปสู่, สำหรับ sǎm-ràp
for in Vietnamese
cho

Examples of for in a sentence

  • He was headed for the door when he remembered.
  • The mayor gave a speech for the charity gala.
  • This medicine is for your cough.
  • These apples here are for eating. The rest are for throwing away.
  • I'll buy something for killing cockroaches. We must find something to kill them all.
  • 'Adieu' is French for goodbye.

All 40 example sentences with for

Synonyms of for

Antonyms

Forms of for

alternative formfa
alternative formfo
alternative formfoh
alternative formfo'
alternative formfur
alternative formfuh
alternative formfer

Origin of for

Inherited from Middle English for, from Old English for (“for, because of”), from Proto-Germanic *furi (“for”), from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-. Cognate with West Frisian foar (“for”), Dutch voor (“for”), German für (“for”), Danish for (“for”), Swedish för (“for”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk for (“for”), Icelandic fyrir (“for”), Latin per (“by, through, for, by means of”) and Romance language descendants (e.g. Spanish por (“for”)), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “for, about, toward”), Lithuanian per (“by, through, during”), Slovak pre (“for”), Sanskrit परि (pári, “over, around”).

Words formed from for

Phrases with for

178 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with for

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about for

What does for mean?
For means because.
What is for in Hindi?
For in Hindi is क्योंकि (kyõki), की तरफ़ (kī taraf), ... के लिए (... ke lie). See For meaning in Hindi.
How do you use for in a sentence?
He was headed for the door when he remembered.
What part of speech is for?
For can be a conjunction, a preposition, a particle or a noun.
How do you pronounce for?
For is pronounced /fɔː/ (UK).

Words near for in the dictionary

  1. fopses
  2. fopsies
  3. fopsy
  4. FOQ
  5. foquism
  6. for
  7. for $500, Alex
  8. for a change
  9. for a fact
  10. for a laugh
  11. for a minute

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for (page history and authors); FOR (page history and authors). 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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-for.wav, En-us-for.ogg, En-au-for.ogg.

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