OR

Multiple Entries:
  OR    or    -or  

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OR

▶abbreviation

• 1 operational research.

• 2 Oregon (in official postal use).

• 3 Brit. Military other ranks (as opposed to commissioned officers).

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or1

▶conjunction

• 1 used to link alternatives.

• 2 introducing a synonym or explanation of a preceding word or phrase.

• 3 otherwise.

• 4 archaic either.

▶noun (OR)

• 1 a logical operation which gives the value one if at least one operand has the value one, and otherwise gives a value of zero.

• 2 [as modifier] Electronics denoting a gate circuit which produces an output if there is a signal on any of its inputs.

– phrases
or so (after a quantity) approximately.

– origin ME: a reduced form of the obs. conjunction other (which superseded OE oththe ‘or’).

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or2

▶noun gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

– origin C16: from Fr., from L. aurum ‘gold’.

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-or1

▶suffix (forming nouns) denoting a person or thing performing the action of a verb, or denoting another agent: escalator.

– origin from L., sometimes via Anglo-Norman Fr. -eour or OFr. -eor (see also -ator).

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-or2

▶suffix forming nouns denoting a state or condition: terror.

– origin from L., sometimes via OFr. -or, -ur.

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-or3

▶suffix forming adjectives expressing a comparative sense: junior.

– origin via Anglo-Norman Fr. from L.

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-or4

▶suffix US form of -our1.