or else
idiom
1
—used to say what will happen if something is not done
You have to leave or else you will be arrested for trespassing.
2
—used to say what another possibility is
He either thinks he can't do it or else he just isn't interested.
3
informal
—used in angry speech to express a threat without saying exactly what the threat is
Do what I say or else!
Examples of or else in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Even the material about those strange and unexplained factions contained enough harrowing or unsettling elements, or else passed by quickly enough, to keep me engaged.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faced an April 5 deadline to sell its stake in the app or else be banned in the U.S. after Trump extended an earlier January deadline set by Congress last year.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025
To save Health and Activity data, choose the option to encrypt your backup, or else it will not be saved; not saving unencrypted Health and Activity data is a default privacy feature.
—Simon Hill, WIRED, 12 Mar. 2025
TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faces an April 5 deadline to sell its stake in the app or else be banned in the U.S. after Trump extended an earlier January deadline that was set by Congress last year.
—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for or else
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2025
TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faced an April 5 deadline to sell its stake in the app or else be banned in the U.S. after Trump extended an earlier January deadline set by Congress last year.
—Zac Anderson, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025
To save Health and Activity data, choose the option to encrypt your backup, or else it will not be saved; not saving unencrypted Health and Activity data is a default privacy feature.
—Simon Hill, WIRED, 12 Mar. 2025
TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faces an April 5 deadline to sell its stake in the app or else be banned in the U.S. after Trump extended an earlier January deadline that was set by Congress last year.
—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for or else
Cite this Entry
“Or else.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/or%20else. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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