ever
- 1At any point in time; on any occasion.
If you're ever in Denver, give me a call and we'll grab lunch.
It is the fastest car they have ever tested on this track.
UsageUsed in questions, if clauses, negatives and after superlatives: the best ever. Rare in plain statements (not
incorrect: I have ever seen her).Oppositenever
- 2Continually, or more and more, used before a comparative or a present participle to show that a process keeps going.
Rents in the city climbed ever higher throughout the decade.
Hospitals are struggling to store an ever-increasing flood of patient data.
Similarsteadily, constantly
- 3Always; for all time; eternally.
They pledged to remain ever faithful to the crown.
Kane picked up the ball 25 yards out with 18 minutes left before proving he is ever the opportunist by flashing a dipping swerving drive beyond the deceived Szczesny.
2021, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”UsageMostly in set phrases such as for ever, ever after and it was ever thus; elsewhere always is usual.
Note
Florence Nightingale could still write in 1860 that our feeling of God "must be ever imperfect, yet should be ever advancing".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Nightingale's Suggestions for Thought was originally printed in 1860. searcharchives.bl.uk
- Nightingale wrote that our feeling of God 'must be ever imperfect, yet should be ever advancing'. bpb-ca-c1.wpmucdn.com
Less common meanings
- 4Used for emphasis after a question word, or in an exclamation shaped like a question, as in Was I ever glad.
What ever made you think she would agree to that?
Who ever could have guessed the ending of the story?
UsageAfter what, who, how or why it adds surprise: what ever made you say that? Did I ever! is a strong yes.
- 5In some regional speech, a reduced form of 'every,' used before a noun to mean each one.
We worked the fields ever day from dawn to dusk.
She finds time to call her mother ever chance she gets.
UsageMostly seen in reported dialect speech; standard writing uses every.
Note
A clipped every from regional speech, usually met in writing as reported dialogue. Connie Jordan Green's The War at Home (1989) has "Ever place you look there's houses and more houses," and Lee Smith's earlier Oral History (1983) uses the same phrase, ever place you look, almost as a fixed expression.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Regional ever is a shortened form of every. en.wiktionary.org
- Connie Jordan Green wrote The War at Home, published in 1989. files.eric.ed.gov
- The War at Home contains the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
- Lee Smith wrote Oral History, first published in 1983, before The War at Home. leesmith.com
- Oral History contains the phrase ever place you look. en.wiktionary.org
- 6Describing anyone who has done a particular thing at least once within a period, regardless of whether they still do it.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre. It was probably originally a phrase whose first element was Old English ā ("ever, always") plus in ("in"), with a further element possibly from feorh ("life, existence"); compare Old English ā tō fēore ("ever in life").
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Ever derives from Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre. en.wiktionary.org
- The proposed original phrase contains Old English ā, meaning “ever, always,” and in, meaning “in.” en.wiktionary.org
- The further element may derive from feorh, meaning “life, existence.” en.wiktionary.org
- Old English ā tō fēore is a comparable expression glossed “ever in life.” en.wiktionary.org