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forever

adv. time
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //fɝˈɛvɝ// UK //fəɹˈɛvɐ// for·ev·er General-service Informal Literary

adv. for all time in the future. You use this to say that something will never end or that it happens all the time.

adv. for an infinite or indefinite period of time; eternally. Often used hyperbolically to describe a situation that occurs with annoying frequency.


SIMPLE

I will remember this beautiful day forever.

CONTEXTUAL

The old factory has been closed forever, and the city plans to turn the land into a park.

COMPLEX

While the physical structures of the ancient city have crumbled, the philosophical ideas born there have changed the course of history forever.

Synonyms
Origin

Univerbation of for ever, from Middle English for ever, for evere. By surface analysis, for + ever. First attested in the late 14c., and first attested in the late 17c. as one word. Noun first attested in 1858.

Usage

Typically placed after the verb or at the end of a clause; when used for emphasis or annoyance, it often sits between the auxiliary and the main verb.

Pitfall

I will love you for foreverI will love you foreverForever is an adverb and does not usually require the preposition 'for' before it.

Idioms1 entry

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