Etimology
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”); equivalent to with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”).
adverb
without (not comparable)
(archaic or literary) Outside, externally. This is still used in the names of some civil parishes in England, e.g. St Cuthbert Without.
Lacking something.
(euphemistic) In prostitution: without a condom being worn.
Examples
Macbeth: There's blood upon your faceMurderer: 'tis Banquo's thenMacbeth: 'tis better thee without then he within.
And as each and all of them were warmed without by the sun, so each had a private little sun for her soul to bask in; some dream, some affection, some hobby, at least some remote and distant hope which, though perhaps starving to nothing, still lived on, as hopes will.
Strange silence here: without, the sounding streetHeralds the world's swift passage to the fire
I knew that someone had entered the house cautiously from without.
The feeling seemed to come not from without, but from within each body, as though every person had become a vibrating string.
Brainiac: This earthquake is quite literally worldwide.
Alex Danvers: But the seismic activity [isn't] coming from within the planet, it's coming from without.
Being from a large, poor family, he learned to live without.
"Read lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you."Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrible and deadly for us as your "friendship and brotherhood."
“What's within reason?” “Hand-job, blow-job, full sex — straight, full service. Greek, maybe, if you're not too big. Golden shower, if you like, but not reverse. No hardsports. And absolutely nothing without.”
preposition
without
(archaic or literary) Outside of, beyond.
Not having, containing, characteristic of, etc.
Not doing or not having done something.
Examples
Antonym: within
Without the gate / Some drive the cars, and some the coursers rein.
From thence we came without the Eaſtern gate, unto an immoveable ſtone, upon the which they ſaid St. Stephen was ſtoned to death, the firſt Martyr of the Chriſtian faith; and the faithfull fore-runner of many noble followers.
Eternity, before the world and after, is without our reach.
[…] though it was pitch-dark, and we were obliged to be escorted by grooms and groomlings with candles and lanterns; a very necessary precaution, as the winds blew not more violently without the house than within.
Antonym: with
It was a mistake to leave my house without a coat.
From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.
One day my dreams were surely dying, dying, dying babyJust like a flower without rain
Life goes on within you and without you.
Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema.
He likes to eat everything without sharing.
He shot without warning anyone.
But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.
Athelstan Arundel walked home […], foaming and raging. […] He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.
Related words
synonyms
lacking, outwith, with no, -less, w/o, sans, -free
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "outside"): within
(antonym(s) of "not having"): with, having, characteristic of, endowed with
conjunction
without
(archaic or dialectal) Unless, except (introducing a clause).
Examples
You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but that ain't no matter.
‘Why,’ he blurted, ‘because they say I've no right to come up like this—without we mean to marry—’2006, p.264
2006, p.264