one or the other
idiom
: one of two persons or things but not the other
One or the other of us will have to go.
Examples of one or the other in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Got muscles and a truck — or just one or the other?
—
Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2025
The opportunity is to create systems that can both scale predictably and adapt dynamically, not one or the other.
—François Candelon, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
No one would deliberately want to put their friends in unpleasant situations, but excluding one or the other also seems hurtful.
—Judith Martin, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025
In the Upper South, cool-season grasses provide the best looking lawns, and Middle Southerners use one or the other depending on their USDA hardiness zone or microclimate.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for one or the other
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Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Dec. 2025
The opportunity is to create systems that can both scale predictably and adapt dynamically, not one or the other.
—François Candelon, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
No one would deliberately want to put their friends in unpleasant situations, but excluding one or the other also seems hurtful.
—Judith Martin, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025
In the Upper South, cool-season grasses provide the best looking lawns, and Middle Southerners use one or the other depending on their USDA hardiness zone or microclimate.
—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for one or the other
Cite this Entry
“One or the other.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one%20or%20the%20other. Accessed 1 Jan. 2026.
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