Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use or in a sentence

40 example sentences · conjunction, noun, adjective

Or means connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true. Example: “You may stay or go.”

Examples of or by meaning

conjunctionConnects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.

  • You may stay or go.
  • He might get cancer, or be hit by a bus, or God knows what.

conjunctionOtherwise (a consequence of the condition that the previous is false).

  • It's raining! Come inside or you'll catch a cold!

conjunctionConnects two equivalent names.

  • The country Myanmar, or Burma

conjunctionUsed in between two numbers to denote a range between them.

  • A man of 18 or 20 years

nounThe gold or yellow tincture on a coat of arms.

  • The metals are gold and silver, these being termed "or" and "argent".1909, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry

prepositionBefore; ere. Generally followed by “ever” or “e'er”.

  • And Time went forth into the worlds to obey the commands of the gods, yet he cast furtive glances at his masters, and the gods distrusted Time because he had known the worlds or ever the gods became.1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3

More sentences with or

  • In very ancient or poorly documented languages, the precise semantics of words tend to be uncertain.From the entry semantics
  • Next holiday we will head out West, or head to Chicago.From the entry head
  • Bequests and legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.From the entry abate
  • He affirmed or promised on his word, or on his honour.From the entry on
  • The body part was rudimentary or absent in 1% of specimens.From the entry absent
  • Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace.From the entry absent
  • Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.From the entry can
  • Mars goes around the sun once in a Martian year, or 1.88 Earth years.From the entry year
  • They were discounted because they contained blemishes, nicks or were otherwise factory seconds.From the entry second
  • (or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us.From the entry be
  • They guaranteed that our Web site would have 99.99% uptime, or four nines.From the entry nine
  • Another unsolicited maths take: talking about quotients in terms of "equivalence classes" or cosets is really unnatural.From the entry take
  • A free, open Internet without advertising or paywalls would be an infotopia.From the entry infotopia
  • When you say last Monday, do you mean the Monday just gone, or the one before that?From the entry last
  • Are you going to buy a new car or a second-hand one?From the entry new
  • Handicraft is less standardized then industrial products, hence less artistic or rather flawless.From the entry industrial
  • Surprise parties succeed with the help of accessory neighbors or colleagues.From the entry accessory
  • For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.From the entry accuse
  • You best have some money, cause there ain't no checks or credit here.From the entry money
  • The army received a bigger share of this year's budget increase than the navy or air force.From the entry army
  • Christian charity, or love, stands first in the rank of gifts.From the entry stand
  • Are there more students in this class, or is this it?From the entry it
  • The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.From the entry thin
  • He could not come on grounds of health, or on health grounds.From the entry ground
  • A flying ace is usually one with five or more confirmed kills.From the entry kill
  • She lives a mile or two away, in the next village.From the entry next
  • When you say next Thursday, do you mean Thursday this week or Thursday next week?From the entry next
  • Money's a little tight right now. Let's age our bills for a week or so.From the entry age
  • The best medium might be petroleum, liquified gas, or something of that nature.From the entry nature
  • At common law a corporation or a trust is legally a person.From the entry person
  • A: One cube or two? B: Oh, no sugar for me, thanks.From the entry cube
  • She looks like she's in her early twenties, perhaps 21 or 22 years old?From the entry twenty
  • The lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.From the entry symbol

Meaning of or

  1. conjunction Connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
  2. conjunction An operator denoting the disjunction of two propositions or truth values. There are two forms: the inclusive or and the exclusive or.
  3. conjunction Counts the elements before and after as two possibilities.

Full definition of or

Questions about or in a sentence

How do you use or in a sentence?
Or is used as a conjunction, noun and adjective. For example: “You may stay or go.”
What is a short sentence with or?
“The country Myanmar, or Burma”
What does or mean?
Or means connects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: or (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use or in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/or. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.