Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun informal A
speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier. - verb informal To
speculate about theconsequences of something that could have happened.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I can already see it at some virtual movie-revival house of the future: a "what-if?" double feature that teams Limitless and Source Code and points out that both films came out within a couple of weeks of each other in the same year.
Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Source Code Marshall Fine 2011
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Again, researchers are ready with a modeled "what-if" scenario.
Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D.: Obesity and Diabetes: Research Points to a Better Path M.D. Glenn D. Braunstein 2011
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Providing an hilarious middle ground between theatre that teaches and theatre that entertains, the well-acted, nicely-directed production raises ingenious what-if questions about subjects that may have seemed serious to us in third grade though, as we got older and wiser, most certainly are not.
James Scarborough: Almost An Evening, The Garage Theatre James Scarborough 2011
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I had many vice presidents worthy of discussion, but I thought these seven inspired the most interesting "what-if" scenarios.
Jonathan Hobratsch: 7 Vice Presidents: The Great "What-If" Presidencies Jonathan Hobratsch 2011
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Providing an hilarious middle ground between theatre that teaches and theatre that entertains, the well-acted, nicely-directed production raises ingenious what-if questions about subjects that may have seemed serious to us in third grade though, as we got older and wiser, most certainly are not.
James Scarborough: Almost An Evening, The Garage Theatre James Scarborough 2011
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Group-think does not enjoy analyzing what-if we are on the wrong-track?
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Then there's always a few rifles for the "what-if" situations and the back-ups.
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Then there's always a few rifles for the "what-if" situations and the back-ups.
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Jules Verne began reaching into the great unknown of what-if in a different way.
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Before the Yankees traded for Granderson in a blockbuster three-team deal in the winter of 2009, the Red Sox were in talks with the Detroit Tigers to land the center fielder, a what-if deal that might have dramatically reshaped the way the AL East stands today.
Yankees' Granderson Was Nearly the Enemy Daniel Barbarisi 2012
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