what if

what if
phrasal
: what will or would be the result if

what if it be a poison — Shakespeare

: what does it matter if

he won't object, and anyway, what if he does

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what if
1. What would it matter if? (also what matter if)
2. What would happen if?
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Main Entry:what

* * *

what if — see what, 1
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Main Entry:if
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what if
1 : what would happen if

What if they find out?

What if it rains?

2 : what does it matter if
— used to say that something is not important

“He's nice enough, I suppose. But he's poor.” “What if he is poor? I love him!”

“They might find out.” “So what if they do? I don't care.”

see also so what at what, 3
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Main Entry:what

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?
Synonyms:

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  • What — What, pron., a., & adv. [AS. hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries. hwet, D. & LG. wat, G. was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. [root]182. See {Who}.] [1913 Webster] 1. As an interrogative pronoun,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • What ho — What What, pron., a., & adv. [AS. hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries. hwet, D. & LG. wat, G. was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. [root]182. See {Who}.] [1913 Webster] 1. As an interrogative… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • What if — What What, pron., a., & adv. [AS. hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries. hwet, D. & LG. wat, G. was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. [root]182. See {Who}.] [1913 Webster] 1. As an interrogative… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • What of it — What What, pron., a., & adv. [AS. hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to OS. hwat what, OFries. hwet, D. & LG. wat, G. was, OHG. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, Sw. & Dan. hvad, Goth. hwa. [root]182. See {Who}.] [1913 Webster] 1. As an interrogative… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • What if? — (comics) What if? Éditeur Marvel Comics Format Série continue Date(s) de publication février 1977 octobre 1984 (Vol. 1) juillet 1989 novembre 1998 (Vol. 2) Numéros 47 (Vol. 1) 114 (Vol. 2) Scén …   Wikipédia en Français

  • what — [ wat, hwat ] function word *** What can be used in the following ways: as a question pronoun (introducing a direct or indirect question): What do you want? Tell me what happened. as a relative pronoun (starting a relative clause that is subject …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • what — 1. general. As a relative pronoun, what is an especially complex word because it can be either singular or plural and can refer both to words that have gone before and to words that come later in the sentence. In general it stands for a group of… …   Modern English usage

  • what — [hwut, hwät, wut, wät] pron. [ME hwat < OE hwæt, neut. of hwa, who < IE interrogative base * kwo , * kwe > WHERE, WHO, L qui, who what, Lith kàs, what, who] I as an interrogative: which thing, event, circumstance, etc.?: used to ask for… …   English World dictionary

  • What If? 2 — subtitled Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been , is a collection of twenty five essays dealing with counterfactual history. It was published by G.P. Putnam s Sons in 2001, ISBN 0 399 14795 0, and edited by Robert Cowley. It is the suc …   Wikipedia

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