51Թ

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View synonyms for

ourselves

[ ahr-selvz, ouuhr-, ou-er- ]

plural pronoun

  1. a reflexive form of we (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the direct object of a preposition):

    We are deceiving ourselves. Give us a moment to ourselves.

  2. (used as an intensive with we ):

    We ourselves would never say such a thing.

  3. Informal. (used in place of we or us, especially in compound subjects, objects, and complements):

    The children and ourselves thank you kindly. When it satisfies ourselves, it will be ready to market. The ones who really want the new system are the manager and ourselves.

  4. (used in place of we or us after as, than, or but ):

    How many parents are as fortunate as ourselves? No one loves skiing more than ourselves. Nobody heard it but ourselves.

  5. our customary, normal, or healthy selves:

    After a good rest, we're almost ourselves again.



ourselves

/ ʊəˈɛ /

pronoun

    1. the reflexive form of we or us
    2. (intensifier)

      we ourselves will finish it

  1. preceded by a copula our usual selves

    we are ourselves when we're together

  2. not_standard.
    used instead of we or us in compound noun phrases

    other people and ourselves

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage Note

See myself.
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of ourselves1

1300–50; Middle English oure selven; our, self, -en 4, -s 3
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“We don’t want to negotiate ourselves into a structural deficit,” Davenport said in an interview Monday.

From

“At S. Martinelli & Company, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence, and the health and safety of our customers remains our greatest priority,” the statement concluded.

From

"Loathe to give the band more publicity," said Alliance leader Naomi Long, "but as a community we need to start asking ourselves what messages we're sending out about the kind of future we want."

From

But the medicine didn’t take, or it was the wrong diagnosis, or we didn’t take care of ourselves and were reinfected.

From

We explore other worlds to know them and, in doing so, we discover more about ourselves.

From

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