what for

English

Adverb

what for

1. (colloquial) For what reason; why.

   He wants four copies of it? What for?

   Ow! What did you do that for?

Translations

For what reason; why

Breton: da betra (br) Estonian: miks (et) Finnish: miksi (fi), minkä takia (fi), minkä vuoksi (fi), mitä varten (fi) German: wofür (de) Macedonian: зошто (mk) (zóšto), чуму (mk) (čúmu)

Polish: po co (pl), dlaczego (pl) Portuguese: pra quê (pt) Russian: зачем (ru) Swedish: varför (sv), av vilken anledning (sv) Yiddish: צו וואָס (yi) (tsu vos)

Noun

what for

1. (idiomatic, colloquial, usually with "give someone") An unspecified punishment or rebuke

   When your dad gets home, he'll give you what for.

Translations

An unspecified punishment or rebuke