See what-if in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for what-if meaning in English (3.7kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "what-ifs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "what-if (plural what-ifs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "46 54",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "48 52",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Alternate history",
"orig": "en:Alternate history",
"parents": [
"History",
"Speculative fiction",
"All topics",
"Fiction",
"Genres",
"Fundamental",
"Artistic works",
"Entertainment",
"Art",
"Culture",
"Society"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "what-iffery"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, page 199",
"text": "Each man was running over the what ifs in his mind.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier."
],
"id": "en-what-if-en-noun-xxT-GzpE",
"links": [
[
"speculation",
"speculation"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "what if"
}
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham Lincoln",
"Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
],
"word": "what-if"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "what-ifs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++"
},
"expansion": "what-if (third-person singular simple present what-ifs, present participle what-iffing, simple past and past participle what-iffed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "46 54",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "48 52",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Alternate history",
"orig": "en:Alternate history",
"parents": [
"History",
"Speculative fiction",
"All topics",
"Fiction",
"Genres",
"Fundamental",
"Artistic works",
"Entertainment",
"Art",
"Culture",
"Society"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened."
],
"id": "en-what-if-en-verb-sigRkaLN",
"links": [
[
"speculate",
"speculate"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "counterfactual"
},
{
"word": "ifs, ands, or buts"
}
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham Lincoln",
"Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
],
"word": "what-if"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
"en:Alternate history"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "what-iffery"
}
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "what-ifs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "what-if (plural what-ifs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "what if"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English informal terms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, page 199",
"text": "Each man was running over the what ifs in his mind.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier."
],
"links": [
[
"speculation",
"speculation"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham Lincoln",
"Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
],
"word": "what-if"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
"en:Alternate history"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "what-ifs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "what-iffed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "++"
},
"expansion": "what-if (third-person singular simple present what-ifs, present participle what-iffing, simple past and past participle what-iffed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "counterfactual"
},
{
"word": "ifs, ands, or buts"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English informal terms"
],
"glosses": [
"To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened."
],
"links": [
[
"speculate",
"speculate"
],
[
"consequence",
"consequence"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal) To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened."
],
"tags": [
"informal"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham Lincoln",
"Assassination of Abraham Lincoln"
],
"word": "what-if"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.