for

  • preposition 1 in favour of. 2 affecting or with regard to. 3 on behalf of or to the benefit of. 4 having as a purpose or function. 5 having as a reason or cause. 6 having as a destination. 7 representing. 8 in exchange for. 9 in relation to the expected norm of. indicating the extent of (a distance) or the length of (a period of time). indicating an occasion in a series.

  • conjunction literary because; since.

  — PHRASES be for it Brit. informal be about to be punished or get into trouble. oh for &em;&em; I long for &em;&em;.

  — ORIGIN Old English, related to FORE.

Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary

About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day

Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names