See Also:

when (iou)



when adverb, conjunction, & noun.

A. adverb.
interrog. At what time? on what occasion? in what circumstances? OE.
Swift I wonder when this letter will be finished. D. H. Lawrence When will the car come? Sunday Correspondent When would it be possible to meet him? New York Review of Books Some wondered when it would happen again.
rel. Referring to an antecedent denoting a period of time: at or on which. ME.
P. Marshall He remembered..the time when he had worked..for a white family.
In the past. N. Amer. colloq. M20.
H. Waugh She needn't try those airs with me. I knew her when.
b. conjunction.
At the time that, on the occasion that; in the circumstances which; gen. at any time that, on any or every occasion that. Also ellipt. with only predicate expressed. OE.
M. Keane You will come out..when hounds meet at nine o'clock. Not earlier. E. Bowen My uncle, a..versatile and when necessary inventive talker. P. S. Buck This woman came into our house when she was a child. Day Lewis Wasps and bees only sting..when they are annoyed. V. S. Pritchett We wondered which room you had when you lived there.
Introducing a clause as obj. of verb, or qualified by a preposition: the or a time at which. OE.
G. Vidal Remember when we used to talk about seeing more of Italy? New Yorker I came across..the tights..from when I waited table.
At which time; after or upon which; and then; (with implication of suddenness) but just then. OE.
S. Baring-Gould Scarcely had she touched the spindle when she pierced her hand on it. D. H. Lawrence They were eating..when the boy jumped off his chair. V. S. Pritchett It was disturbing when you thought about it.
Seeing that, considering that. ME.
D. Gill How can we love the plainsmen when they burn / our houses..and rape our wives.
While on the contrary, whereas. ME.
F. Marryat I..received fifty shillings, when I ought to have received..ten pounds.
Phrases & comb.: as and when: see AS adverb etc. if and when: see IF conjunction. say when colloq.: used by a person performing an action (esp. pouring out drink) for another, to ask when the action should stop. when-issued adjective (chiefly US) designating or pertaining to an agreement to buy securities in which payment is not required until delivery.
C. pronoun & noun.
pronoun. After a preposition: what time? which time. ME.
Daily Telegraph A hearing is due on July 15, by when the court may have disappeared.
noun. The or a time at which something happens (or did or will happen). M16.
whenabouts noun & adverb (rare) (a) noun the approximate time at which something happened; (b) adverb about what time?: L19.