but for
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.48 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep
Except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for; had it not been for.
prep
adj
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.
Example Sentences
- "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: […]"
- "She had a woman to take care of her called Mrs Poole — an able woman in her line, and very trustworthy, but for one fault — a fault common to a deal of them nurses and matrons — she kept a bottle of gin by her, and now and then took a drop over-much."
- "But for that beneficent drug, not one of those men would have slept a moment during that fearful night."
- "In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old woman remained otherwise empty, Mr. Hyde had only used a couple of rooms; […]"
- "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."
Inflected Forms
but-for (alternative)