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perhaps (iou)



perhaps adverb & noun. L15.
[from PER + HAP noun + -S1. Cf. P'RAPS.]
A. adverb.
Qualifying a statement, or by ellipsis a word or phr., so as to express possibility with uncertainty: it may be that; maybe, possibly. L15.
B. Pym Must we always like everybody?..Perhaps not. J. Cannan Perhaps you would be good enough to withdraw. E. Waugh There is the Drowned Sailor motifan echo of the Waste Land perhaps? A. S. Byatt I don't know how to start, and perhaps I ought not to try. F. Swinnerton Not, perhaps, an atheist, he was proud of his command of medieval history. H. Secombe Perhaps I'll die of pneumonia.
In a conditional clause expr. hypothesis: as may happen or be the case; as is possible; by any chance. Now rare exc. in unless perhaps. L16.
Bible (AV): 2 Corinthians 2:7 Lest perhaps, such a one should be swallowed vp with ouermuch sorrow.
b. noun.
A statement qualified by 'perhaps'; an expression of possibility combined with uncertainty, suspicion, or doubt. M16.
P. Henissart Perhaps you're telling the truth; it's a big perhaps.
Something that may or may not happen or exist; a mere possibility. Chiefly in the great perhaps. M19.
? Cf. PERADVENTURE, PERCASE, PERCHANCE.