Lexic.us

Definition of At any rate

1. Adverb. Used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement. "But at any rate he got a knighthood for it"

2. Adverb. If nothing else ('leastwise' is informal and 'leastways' is colloquial). "The influence of economists--or at any rate of economics--is far-reaching"

Definition of At any rate

1. Adverb. (context: conjunctive) In any case, anyway, anyhow, regardless; ''used to discard a previous thought''. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of At Any Rate

at a loss for words at a low price at a lower place at a moment's notice at a pinch at a premium at a rate of knots at a stand at a time at all

at all costs at all hours at an equal rate at any cost at any expense at any rate (current term) at arm's length at bat at bats at bay

at bay(p) at best at bottom at call at church every time the doors are open at close range at cost at cross-purposes at daggers drawn at dark

Literary usage of At any rate

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Sons and Lovers by David Herbert Lawrence (1922)
"It was littered with rubble from water, but at any rate it was easier. They cleaned r boots with twigs. His heart was beating thick and '•uddenly, ..."

2. The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Henry Dale, Thomas Arnold (1873)
"... and of those who are beforehand in attacking, or, at any rate, let those who are going to attack them все beforehand that they will defend themselves, ..."

3. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"at any rate, the decline does not necessarily indicate an improvement in sexual morality. Nor does a high rate of illegitimacy in a country prove that the ..."

4. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of King's Bench: With by Great Britain Court of King's Bench, George Mifflin Wharton (1845)
"But if the objection above stated were less tenable than it is, still it is at any rate, essential to the action, that the plaintiff should have sustained ..."

5. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (1906)
"And yet these two people were thoroughly in love with each other; and though one was a middle-aged clergyman, and the other a lady at any rate past the ..."

6. Homerica, Emendations and Elucidations of the Odyssey by Thomas Leyden Agar (1908)
"... a/í<f>uc(á<rcra.s ' dressing timber of ash ', which at any rate affords a definite and intelligible sense. ..."

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