The word where definition

Adverb

Where did you meet her?

Where did you hear that?

Where can I find books about gardening?

I don’t know where that came from.

Where is she taking us?

Do you know where we’re going?

Where does the story get interesting?

Where do the two candidates disagree on the issue?

Conjunction

Please stay where you are.

We sat down where there was some shade.

He put the note where she could easily see it.

He doesn’t know where he is going.

It doesn’t matter to me where we eat.

We could see the players very clearly from where we sat.

I know where their house is.

The town where we live is having an arts and crafts fair.

This is the room where the children sleep.

The store where we shop is closing.

Noun

we’ve decided on the when, but we still haven’t resolved the where for the party

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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘where.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• quhair, quhar, quher, quhere (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English wher, from Old English hwǣr (“where”, literally “at what place”), from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- (interrogative pronoun).

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hwâr, wâr; IPA^(key): /ʍɛə/, /wɛə/
• (General American) enPR: hwâr, wâr; IPA^(key): /ʍɛɚ/, /wɛɚ/
• (in accents with the wine–whine merger)
• (in accents without the wine–whine merger)
• (in accents with the wine–whine merger)
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophones: ware, wear, we’re (in accents with the wine–whine merger)

Conjunction[edit]

where

1. In, at or to which place or situation.

   • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

     Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

   • 1967, Sleigh, Barbara, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 122:

     Through the open front door ran Jessamy, down the steps to where Kitto was sitting at the bottom with the pram beside him.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:where.

   I’ve forgotten where I was in this book, but it was probably around chapter four.

   I hardly knew where I was going.

   Synonym: (to which place; archaic or literary) whither

2. In, at or to the place (that) or a place (that).

   Stay where you are.

   Go back where you came from.

   Let’s go where it’s warmer.

3. In, at or to any place (that); wherever; anywhere.

   Please sit where you like.

   Their job is to go where they are called.

4. In a position, case, etc. in which; if.

   You cannot be too careful where explosives are involved.

   Where no provision under this Act is applicable, the case shall be decided in accordance with the customary practices.

5. While on the contrary; although; whereas.

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     And flight and die is death destroying death; Where fearing dying pays death servile breath.

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     Where the Joker preys on our fears of random, irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.

   • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama’s once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

     Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don’t know and will never meet.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:where.

   Where Susy has trouble coloring inside the lines, Johnny has already mastered shading.

Translations[edit]

Adverb[edit]

where (not comparable)

1. Interrogative adverb, used in either a direct or indirect question: in, at or to what place.

   Where are you?

   Where are you going?

   He asked where I grew up.

   1. (with certain prepositions) What place.

      Where did you come from?

      Where are you off to?

      Where are you at? (informal)

   2. (informal) where are.

      Where you at?

      Where you going?

2. In what situation.

   Where would we be without our parents?

3. (relative) In, at or to which.

   This is the place where we first met.

   He is looking for a house where he can have a complete office.

   That’s the place where we went on holiday.

   Here’s a picture of York, where I was born. (non-defining)

4. (fused relative) The place in, at or to which.

   He lives within five miles of where he was born.

   This is a photo of where I went on holiday.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

where (plural wheres)

1. The place in which something happens.

   A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Hawaiian Creole: wea

Anagrams[edit]

• Hewer, hewer, rehew

Categories:

• English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
• English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷ-
• English terms inherited from Middle English
• English terms derived from Middle English
• English terms inherited from Old English
• English terms derived from Old English
• English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
• English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
• English 1-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with audio links
• Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)
• Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)/1 syllable
• English terms with homophones
• English lemmas
• English conjunctions
• English terms with quotations
• English terms with usage examples
• English adverbs
• English uncomparable adverbs
• English informal terms
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English interrogative adverbs
• English location adverbs
• English relative adverbs

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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The adverb is an invariable part of the sentence that can change, explain or simplify a verb or another adverb.

Where

Where may refer to: ▪ Where?, in journalism, one of the Five Ws ▪ Where, a database language clause ▪ Where.com, a provider of location-based applications via mobile phones…

The translations of where from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «where» in English.

The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «where» in the different countries.

List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «where».

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «where» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «where» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

A captain who does not know where he wants to sail, there is no wind on Earth that will bring him there.

Science works because the phenomenon being described can be relied on to remain the same. Even in quantum physics, where phenomena are changed by observation, the way in which observation interferes is regular and falls within a limited range of possibilities. Human culture, however, has the nasty habit of never staying the same for very long.

My parents got divorced when I was 2, so I have this weird thing where I have 8 brothers and sisters, but I am also an only child.

I grew up in Delhi, where there are no Parsis. But once I came to Mumbai, I realised how quirky Parsis are.

I’m purely most happy on a film or television set. That’s where I feel I am home.

I’ve been in a situation where I was after the money.

There’s a lot of days where you feel forgotten.

I love watching people, and that’s what I do; just go for a walk at about 4 o’clock, and go down a busy street, where you see people coming out of school and you get a glimpse of their lives, what they’re talking about.

I’ve always had a repulsion going in a place where animals are in captivity.

I hate politics. It’s slimy. Any job where people pander for votes, I don’t like. The country has gotten so partisan that if you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy. The only thing I ever try to support is a third party, like Unity08. We need more parties and more choice.

1

Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet

Where Wizards Stay Up Late is the exciting story of the pioneers responsible for creating the most talked about, most influential, and most far-reaching communications breakthrough since the invention of the telephone.

2

Where the Sidewalk Ends

If you are a dreamer, come in,If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . .If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fireFor we have some flax-golden tales to spin.Come in!Come in!

3

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

He shows us how The Matrix has pushed transmedia storytelling to new levels, creating a fictional world where consumers track down bits of the story across multiple media channels.Jenkins argues that struggles over convergence will redefine …

4

Where Good Ideas Come From

The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery—these are all great ideas.

5

Where‘d You Go, Bernadette

The funniest book I’ve read in a decade.

6

Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and …

Argues that the conflict between theism and science does not exist and that the debate is actually between theism and naturalism, a philosophy rooted in the belief that there is no such being as God.

7

Where Are You: A Child’s Book about Loss

Designed to help children cope with the loss of a loved one and find comfort during this stressful and difficult time.

8

Where Mathematics Comes from: How the Embodied Mind Brings …

Provides an in-depth analysis of the cognitive science of mathematical ideas that argues that conceptual metaphor plays a definitive role in mathematical ideas, exploring such concepts as arithmetic, algebra, sets, logic, and infinity.

9

The Where, the Why, and the How: 75 Artists Illustrate …

Featuring work by such contemporary luminaries as Lisa Congdon, Jen Corace, Neil Farber, Susie Ghahremani, Jeremyville, and many more, this is a work of scientific and artistic exploration to pique the interest of both the intellectually …

10

Where I Live: Selected Essays

Writings by the great American playwright span a period of thirty years and show his aesthetic and dramatic development

Where is Google taking us?

Tim Adams was invited to hang out at Google’s California HQ, where some of the world’s brightest minds are working on innovations, such as driverless cars, … «The Guardian, Jul 15»

Right back where we started

In a world where growth has been hard to achieve, politicians do not have a bigger pie to divide up and dish out. A concession made to one group must be at the … «The Economist, Jul 15»

Credit where taxes are due

IN RECENT years tax credits for the poorly paid have become a big part of the welfare systems of America and Britain. Nearly a quarter of Americans are eligible … «The Economist, Jul 15»

Straddling Old and New, a South Where ‘a Flag Is Not Worth a Job’

In a region where church and faith are woven into every strand of society, prayer was one common, almost instinctive, response. But just as a Hispanic woman … «New York Times, Jun 15»

Officials Search for Escaped Prisoner David Sweat in Area Where …

More than 1,000 law enforcement officers searched for escaped killer David Sweat in rural upstate New York Saturday, a day after his fellow escapee was killed … «NBCNews.com, Jun 15»

Where Nice Evenings Are Recalled by Kurt Elling

That’s where you’ll find him often now, promoting his new CD, “Passion World.” “Then when I come back, people say, ‘Hey, man, where you been this time? «New York Times, Jun 15»

Where Christianity Ends

This is where I agree with Linker: Heresy is part of Christianity, integral to its history and development, and the proliferation of heresies across the centuries is … «New York Times, Jun 15»

Put Lawyers Where They’re Needed

More than two decades ago, I tried to bridge the gap in the Chicago suburbs where I grew up by starting the Citizen Advocacy Center, a nonprofit to provide civic … «New York Times, Jun 15»

‘The Goonies’ at 30: Where are they now?

(CNN) This should make you feel old: It’s been 30 years since the premiere of comedic action-adventure film «The Goonies,» directed by Richard Donner. «CNN, Jun 15»

Where the Housing Crisis Continues

And we should consider allowing judges to take a loss on mortgages for homeowners in bankruptcy court, where mortgages are currently a protected class of … «New York Times, Jun 15»

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Contents

• 1 What is the difference between were and where?
• 2 Where the is used in sentence?
• 3 What type of word is where?
• 4 Where in a sentence as a conjunction?
• 5 What is an example of where?
• 6 What is another word for where?
• 7 Where do we use the articles?
• 8 Where should you not use?
• 9 What does wher mean?
• 10 Can Where be an adverb?
• 11 Were VS where VS wear?
• 12 What are the 10 examples of conjunctions?
• 13 What are the 7 conjunctions?
• 14 Were there or where there?
• 15 Where were you meaning?
• 16 What is the opposite of where?
• 17 Is where a homophone?
• 18 Are determiners?
• 19 Where do you use at and in?
• 20 What are preposition words list?