Definition: ever
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
ever
adv 1: at any time; "did you ever smoke?"; "the best con man of all
time" [syn: of all time]
2: at all times; all the time and on every occasion; "I will
always be there to help you"; "always arrives on time";
"there is always some pollution in the air"; "ever hoping
to strike it rich"; "ever busy" [syn: always, e'er]
[ant: never]
3: (intensifier for adjectives) very; "she was ever so
friendly" [syn: ever so]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Ever \Ev"er\adv. [OE. ever, [ae]fre, AS. [ae]fre; perh. akin to AS. [=a] always. Cf. Aye, Age,Evry, Never.] [Sometimes contracted into e'er.] 1. At any time; at any period or point of time. No man ever yet hated his own flesh. --Eph. v. 29. 2. At all times; through all time; always; forever. He shall ever love, and always be The subject of by scorn and cruelty. --Dryder. 3. Without cessation; continually. Note: Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of enforcement. ``His the old man e'er a son?'' --Shak. To produce as much as ever they can. --M. Arnold. Ever and anon, now and then; often. See under Anon. Ever is one, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Ever so, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated adjective or adverb. See Never so, under Never. ``Let him be ever so rich.'' --Emerson. And all the question (wrangle e'er so long), Is only this, if God has placed him wrong. --Pope. You spend ever so much money in entertaining your equals and betters. --Thackeray. For ever, eternally. See Forever. For ever and a day, emphatically forever. --Shak. She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful laughter, out of sight for ever and day. --Prof. Wilson. Or ever (for or ere), before. See Or, ere. [Archaic] Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! --Shak. Note: Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen, but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever memorable, ever watchful, ever burning.
