Word.ws English Dictionary

for someone

for someone prepositional phrase: used as an intensifier for actions causing harm or detriment to someone.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Used as an intensifier for actions causing harm or detriment to someone
    • She knocked my papers out of my hands for me.
    • "Then why did you handcuff him?" / "He was using vulgar language." / "But why did you put those things on his wrists?" / "I couldn't put them on his mouth." / "What did he do then?" / "He tried to run." / "And what did you do?" / "I broke his jaw for him." / "Why did you break his jaw?" / "Well, I...1895, “Aut Scissors Aut Nullus”, in John Ames Mitchell, editor, Life, volume 26, page 387
  2. Used to indicate that an action normally beneficial may be performed in a way that causes harm or detriment to someone.
    • I wiped his nose for him - on the sidewalk.

Questions about for someone

What does for someone mean?
For someone means used as an intensifier for actions causing harm or detriment to someone.
What part of speech is for someone?
For someone is a prepositional phrase.

Words near for someone in the dictionary

  1. for show
  2. for so long a time
  3. for some reason
  4. for some reason or other
  5. for some time
  6. for someone
  7. for sour apples
  8. for sport
  9. for starters
  10. for sure
  11. for that

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for someone (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:

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