either-or

[ ee-ther-awr, ahy-ther- ]

adjective

1. allowing no equivocation; being limited in choice to two options:

   It's an either-or situation—you pay the bill or you lose the company's services.

either-or

adjective

1. presenting an unavoidable need to choose between two alternatives

   an either-or situation

Word History and Origins

Origin of either-or¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Making mothering and working an either/or robs us all of the powerful contributions mothers make to our economy.

From The Daily Beast

Again, an either/or debate­—this kind of assistance is depicted as helping employees, not employers.

From The Daily Beast

It is another one of those either/or guilt-fueled debates—should we be having quantity time or quality time with children?

From The Daily Beast

And a lot of the Mommy Wars have been about it being either/or.

From The Daily Beast

An "either-or" more terrible no doubt than the one he had formulated before her just a year ago.

From Project Gutenberg

In any event, the "either-or-ness" has been most unfortunate in its consequences.

From Project Gutenberg

When "either-or" is used in the reproduction of dreams, it is, as I have already mentioned, to be replaced by "and."

From Project Gutenberg

The dream never utters the alternative "either-or," but accepts both as having equal rights in the same connection.

From Project Gutenberg