were

[wur, wer, wair] / wɜr, wər, wɛər /

VERB

exist

Synonyms

STRONG

abide act breathe continue do endure hold inhabit last live move obtain persist prevail remain rest stand stay subsist survive

WEAK

be alive go on have being have place

Antonyms

STRONG

cease depart die discontinue forsake give up go halt idle leave lose pass quit refuse reject stop

VERB

happen

Synonyms

STRONG

befall occur transpire

WEAK

come about come to pass take place

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At one point, guns being kept in the residence were taken by police and later given back when someone living there petitioned for them.

From The Wall Street Journal

What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place?

From Los Angeles Times

Orchestrated by the brilliant Finn Russell and playing with a ruthlessness that a shell-shocked England could not contain, the Scots were a team reborn.

From BBC

Rallies calling for international action against Tehran were also planned in Toronto and Los Angeles on Saturday.

From Barron's

The director said that in his native Brazil, "cinema would not exist if it were not for public funding".

From Barron's