Meaning of but in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Adverb
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /bət/

    US accent Play button

    UK accent Play button

  1. Adverb

    but

    Definitions

    1. and nothing more

    Examples

    • « I was merely asking »
    • « it is simply a matter of time »
    • « just a scratch »
    • « he was only a child »
    • « hopes that last but a moment »

Famous quotes

  • « I know. I'm lazy. But I made myself a New Years resolution that I would write myself something really special. Which means I have 'til December, right? »
    Catherine O'Hara
  • « I did learn Chinese kung-fu in a school for a short time, but I couldn't afford to pay for long-term learning. »
    Stephen Chow
  • « I enjoy racing historic motorcars from the '50s and '60s. The seed of my interest was planted when I was about 12 years old and took over my mother's Morris Minor. I drove it around my father's farm. But my favorite car is still a McLaren F1, which I have had for 10 years. »
    Rowan Atkinson
  • « It is better to be unhappy in love than unhappy in marriage, but some people manage to be both. »
    Guy de Maupassant
  • « I think that obviously, there is a perverse attraction to a fundamentally changed world or the end of the world. There is a death wish, a perverse death wish. Not just for ourselves, not just for the movie 'Death Wish,' but for the end of all human life. »
    John Hodgman

Browse dictionary