what-if

See also: what if

English
What if Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated?
A diesel locomotive. What if locomotives had been diesel right from the beginning?

Noun

what-if (plural what-ifs)

  1. (informal) A speculation as to what might have happened if something else had happened earlier.
    • 2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin, page 199:
      Each man was running over the what ifs in his mind.
  2. (informal) A hypothetical case or situation, usually evoked by a sense of anxiety or uncertainty.

Derived terms

Verb

what-if (third-person singular simple present what-ifs, present participle what-iffing, simple past and past participle what-iffed)

  1. (informal) To speculate about the consequences of something that could have happened.

See also
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