one or the other

idiom

: one of two persons or things but not the other

One or the other of us will have to go.

Examples of one or the other in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Well, some songs reflect one or the other of us in particular. —Billboard Italy, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024

Passengers flying with a carry-on pet, however, will not be able to bring a large carry-on item that fits in the overhead bin and a personal item at the same time, and must choose one or the other. —Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 1 Apr. 2024

As long as all jurors agree to one or the other, the crime of involuntary manslaughter has been proven. —Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 5 Feb. 2024

Most of those voters also, when asked, ultimately expressed a preference for one or the other candidate, indicating that their distaste isn't necessarily enough to drive them to vote third party. —Kaleigh Rogers, ABC News, 15 Mar. 2024

Show us both as moms and workers, don’t just show one or the other. —Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024

Some have attempted to square people off in a binary choice between one or the other–innovation or safety. —Ann Skeet, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2024

Eventually one or the other will have to take precedence, and for the DEI crowd, doing the job well is secondary to immutable characteristics. —Letters To The Editor, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2024

A lot of people are good at one or the other — really good at putting flights of fancy into song or really good at just writing very direct prose — and don’t tend to have both skill sets. —Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Nov. 2023