From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ever
adv 1: at any time; "did you ever smoke?"; "the best con man of
all time" [syn: ever, of all time]
2: at all times; all the time and on every occasion; "I will
always be there to help you"; "always arrives on time";
"there is always some pollution in the air"; "ever hoping to
strike it rich"; "ever busy" [syn: always, ever, e'er]
[ant: ne'er, never]
3: (intensifier for adjectives) very; "she was ever so friendly"
[syn: ever, ever so]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Ever \Ev"er\adv. [OE. ever, [ae]fre, AS. [ae]fre; perh. akin to
AS. [=a] always. Cf. Aye, Age,Evry, Never.]
[Sometimes contracted into e'er.]
1. At any time; at any period or point of time.
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No man ever yet hated his own flesh. --Eph. v. 29.
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2. At all times; through all time; always; forever.
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He shall ever love, and always be
The subject of by scorn and cruelty. --Dryder.
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3. Without cessation; continually.
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Note: Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of
enforcement. "His the old man e'er a son?" --Shak.
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To produce as much as ever they can. --M. Arnold.
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Ever and anon, now and then; often. See under Anon.
Ever is one, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Ever so, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to
intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated
adjective or adverb. See Never so, under Never. "Let
him be ever so rich." --Emerson.
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And all the question (wrangle e'er so long),
Is only this, if God has placed him wrong. --Pope.
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You spend ever so much money in entertaining your
equals and betters. --Thackeray.
For ever, eternally. See Forever.
For ever and a day, emphatically forever. --Shak.
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She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful
laughter, out of sight for ever and day. --Prof.
Wilson.
Or ever (for or ere), before. See Or, ere. [Archaic]
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Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! --Shak.
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Note: Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen,
but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever
memorable, ever watchful, ever burning.
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