what for

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

what for

adverb for what · whuffo

not comparable For what purpose. What is this tool for?
colloquial, not comparable For what reason; why. He wants four copies of it? What for?

noun what fors · for what · whuffo

colloquial, idiomatic, usually, with "give someone" An unspecified punishment or rebuke. When your dad gets home, he'll give you (a) what for.

Translations

Every language

adv for what purpose

Español	para qué
עברית	בשביל מה bishvíl ma

adv for what reason; why

Español	por qué, de qué
日本語	どうして dōshite
中文	為什麼 /为什么 wèishénme
Português	para quê?
Français	pourquoi
Deutsch	wofür
Italiano	perché
Русский	заче́м začém, для чего́ dlja čevó, за что́ za štó
العربية	لِمَ lima, لِمَاذَا limāḏā
עברית	למה láma, בשביל מה bishvíl ma

noun an unspecified punishment or rebuke

Русский	взбу́чка vzbúčka

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"what for." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/what%20for. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

what for. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/what%20for

Chicago

"what for." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/what%20for.

BibTeX

@misc{what_for_2026,
  title = {what for},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/what%20for},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}