Definition of "and"

As a coordinating conjunction; expressing two elements to be taken together or in addition to each other.

1. Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Soupes dorye. — Take gode almaunde mylke […] caste þher-to Safroun an Salt […]

     c. 1430 (reprinted 1888), Thomas Austin, ed., Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 [Early English Text Society, Original Series; 91], London: N. Trübner & Co. for the Early English Text Society, volume I, OCLC 374760, page 11

   • Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; […]

     c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]

   • In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 1:1

   • as for Mrs. Smith, she had claims of various kinds to recommend her quickly and permanently.

     1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volumes (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818)

   • ‘The UKBA has some serious explaining to do if it is routinely carrying out such abusive and unlawful inspections.’

     2011 November 5, Mark Townsend, The Guardian

2. Simply connecting two clauses or sentences.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • When she saw several boys carrying a huge wooden case full of porcelain, she mumbled to Jinming that she was going to have a look, and left the room.

     1991, Jung Chang, Wild Swans

   • "Consensus is essential for the country," he said, adding that he was not "tied" to his post and was willing to step aside.

     2011 November 5, Helena Smith, Tom Kington, The Guardian

3. Introducing a clause or sentence which follows on in time or consequence from the first.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • ‘But if you think you can get it, Christian, you're a fool. Set one foot upcountry and I'll kill you.’

     1996, David Beasley, Chocolate for the Poor

   • One more error and all the good work she had done on Friday would be for nought.

     2004 August 22, Will Buckley, The Observer

   • Romance is dead; men killed it, and made women clean up the mess.

     2007: Jimmy Carr, 8 out of 10 Cats, 13th day of July episode

4. (obsolete) Yet; but.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Hee said, I goe sir, and went not.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Matthew XXII:

5. Used to connect certain numbers: connecting units when they precede tens (not dated); connecting tens and units to hundreds, thousands etc. (now often omitted in US); to connect fractions to wholes.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

     1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)‎, near Soldiers' National Cemetery, Bliss copy, page 1

   • In Chicago these latter were receiving, for the most part, eighteen and a half cents an hour, and the unions wished to make this the general wage for the next year.

     1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter XXVI, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906

   • The One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

     1956, Dodie Smith, (title)

6. (now colloquial or literary) Used to connect more than two elements together in a chain, sometimes to stress the number of elements.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • And these does she apply, for warnings and portents, / And euils imminent; and on her knee / Hath begg'd, that I will stay at home to day.

     1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]

   • Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!

     1939, Langley, Ryerson & Woolf, The Wizard of Oz (screenplay)

7. Connecting two identical elements, with implications of continued or infinite repetition.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms CXLV:

   • He was at work in a nearby city when the tsunami struck. ‘As soon as I saw it, I called home. It rang and rang, but there was no answer.’

     2011 March 18, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian

8. Introducing a parenthetical or explanatory clause.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • The word "capable" occurs in Mr. Fisher's Bill, and rightly, because our mental and physical capacities are infinitely varied.

     1918, George W. E. Russell, Prime Ministers and Some Others

   • President Pervez Musharraf is undoubtedly sincere in his belief that he, and he alone, can save Pakistan from the twin perils of terrorism and anarchy.

     2008 January 29, The Guardian

9. Introducing the continuation of narration from a previous understood point; also used alone as a question: ‘and so what?’.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps […].

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Revelation XIV:

   • ‘You take it smoothly now,’ said I, ‘but you were very serious last night, when you swore it was Death.’ ‘And so I swear it is Death,’ said he, putting his pipe back in his mouth […].

     1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861

   • ‘And, Vera,’ added Mrs. Durmot, turning to her sixteen-year-old niece, ‘be careful what colour ribbon you wear in your hair […].’

     1914, Saki, ‘The Lull’, Beasts and Superbeasts

10. (now dialectal or somewhat colloquial) Used to connect two verbs where the second is dependent on the first: ‘to’. Used especially after come, go and try.  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • Beyond paying her a few charming compliments and amusing her with gay conversation, had he done anything at all to try and gain her affection?

      1817 (date written), Jane Austen, edited by R[aymond] W[ilson] Chambers, Fragment of a Novel Written by Jane Austen, January–March 1817 […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1925

    • "What have you a been and given Pitt's wife?" said the individual in ribbons, when Pitt and Lady Jane had taken leave of the old gentleman.

      1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848

    • Remember and help yourself to the soup! called Gavin.

      1989, James Kelman, A Disaffection

11. Introducing a qualitative difference between things having the same name; "as well as other".  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • Undoubtedly every party makes mistakes. But there are mistakes and mistakes.

      1936, The Labour Monthly, volume XVIII

    • "There are managers and there are managers," he tells me. "I'm totally involved in every aspect of Nina's career."

      1972, Esquire, volume LXXVIII

12. Used to combine numbers in addition; plus (with singular or plural verb).  quotations  examples

    Quotations

    • ‘Nobody attempts to dispute that two and two make four: but with contests concerning moral truth, human passions are generally mixed […].’

      1791, James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson

    • ‘Can you do Addition?’ the White Queen asked. ‘What's one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one and one?’

      1871, Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There

(heading) Expressing a condition.

1. (now US dialect) If; provided that.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • "Where ys Sir Launcelot?" seyde King Arthure. "And he were here, he wolde nat grucche to do batayle for you."

     1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII

   • Peter answered, and sayde: master, and thou be he, bidde me come unto the on the water.

     1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], Matthew ]

   • "And he went slower," Mike said softly, "he go better."

     1958, Shirley Ann Grau, The Hard Blue Sky

2. (obsolete) As if, as though.  quotations

   Quotations

   • I will roare you, and 'twere any Nightingale.

     c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

   • As they will set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs.

     1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Innovations”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret

(mathematics, logic) Connecting two well-formed formulas to create a new well-formed formula that requires it to only be true when both of the two formulas are true.  examples

(music, often informal) In rhythm, the second half of a divided beat.  quotations  examples

(UK dialectal) Breath.  examples

(UK dialectal) Sea smoke; steam fog.  examples

(UK dialectal, intransitive) To breathe; whisper; devise; imagine.  examples