\Ev"er\adv. [OE. ever, [ae]fre, AS. [ae]fre; perh. akin to
AS. [=a] always. Cf. {Aye}, {Age},{Evry}, {Never}.]
[Sometimes contracted into {e'er}.]
1. At any time; at any period or point of time.
         No man ever yet hated his own flesh.  --Eph. v. 29.
2. At all times; through all time; always; forever.
         He shall ever love, and always be The subject of by
         scorn and cruelty.                    --Dryder.
3. Without cessation; continually.
Note: Ever is sometimes used as an intensive or a word of
      enforcement. ``His the old man e'er a son?'' --Shak.
            To produce as much as ever they can. --M. Arnold.
{Ever and anon}, now and then; often. See under {Anon}.
{Ever is one}, continually; constantly. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{Ever so}, in whatever degree; to whatever extent; -- used to
   intensify indefinitely the meaning of the associated
   adjective or adverb. See {Never so}, under {Never}. ``Let
   him be ever so rich.'' --Emerson.
         And all the question (wrangle e'er so long), Is only
         this, if God has placed him wrong.    --Pope.
         You spend ever so much money in entertaining your
         equals and betters.                   --Thackeray.
{For ever}, eternally. See {Forever}.
{For ever and a day}, emphatically forever. --Shak.
         She [Fortune] soon wheeled away, with scornful
         laughter, out of sight for ever and day. --Prof.
                                               Wilson.
{Or ever} (for or ere), before. See {Or}, {ere}. [Archaic]
         Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I
         had seen that day, Horatio!           --Shak.
Note: Ever is sometimes joined to its adjective by a hyphen,
      but in most cases the hyphen is needless; as, ever
      memorable, ever watchful, ever burning.