/and/ ; unstressed /euhnd, euhn/ , or, esp. after a homorganic consonant, /n/ , conj.
1. (used to connect grammatically coordinate words, phrases, or clauses) along or together with; as well as; in addition to; besides; also; moreover: pens and pencils.
2. added to; plus: 2 and 2 are 4.
3. then: He read for an hour and went to bed.
4. also, at the same time: to sleep and dream.
5. then again; repeatedly: He coughed and coughed.
6. (used to imply different qualities in things having the same name): There are bargains and bargains, so watch out.
7. (used to introduce a sentence, implying continuation) also; then: And then it happened.
8. Informal. to (used between two finite verbs): Try and do it. Call and see if she's home yet.
9. (used to introduce a consequence or conditional result): He felt sick and decided to lie down for a while. Say one more word about it and I'll scream.
10. but; on the contrary: He tried to run five miles and couldn't. They said they were about to leave and then stayed for two more hours.
11. (used to connect alternatives): He felt that he was being forced to choose between his career and his family.
12. (used to introduce a comment on the preceding clause): They don't like each other - and with good reason.
13. Archaic. if: and you please. Cf. an 2 .
14. and so forth , and the like; and others; et cetera: We discussed traveling, sightseeing, and so forth.
15. and so on , and more things or others of a similar kind; and the like: It was a summer filled with parties, picnics, and so on.
n.
16. an added condition, stipulation, detail, or particular: He accepted the job, no ands or buts about it.
17. conjunction (def. 5b).
[ bef. 900; ME; OE and, ond; c. OS, OHG ant, OFris, Goth and, Icel and-; akin to G und, D en, Skt anti ]
Usage . Both AND and BUT, and to a lesser extent OR and SO, are common as transitional words at the beginnings of sentences in all types of speech and writing: General Jackson thought the attack would come after darkness. And he was right. Any objection to this practice probably stems from the overuse of such sentences by inexperienced writers. When one of these words begins a sentence or an independent clause within a sentence, it is not followed by a comma unless the comma is one of a pair setting off a parenthetical element that follows: John is popular, and he seems to be well adjusted. But, appearances to the contrary, he is often depressed. See also and/or, et cetera, try .