A.like as, even as, “ζῆν ὥ. ἤδη ζῇς” S.Ph.1396; “ἐσῴζετ᾽ ἂν . . , ὥ. οὐχὶ σῴζεται” Id.El.994; but the Verb is more often left to be supplied, “οὔ τι κατακρύπτουσιν . . , ὥ. Κύκλωπες” Od.7.206, cf. 2.333, Il.4.263, 14.50; ἔξεστί θ᾽, ὥ. Ἡγέλοχος, ἡμῖν λέγειν . . Ar.Ra.303; “τεταγμένοι ὥ. ἔμελλον” Th.4.93; “τοῖς ἠτυχηκόσιν ὥ. ἐγώ” D.45.1; Hom. freq. puts a word between ὡς and περ, e.g. “ὡς σύ περ αὐτή, ὡς τὸ πάρος περ, ὡς ἔσεταί περ” Od.19.385, Il.5.806, 1.211; as for instance, “ὅταν χορὸς . . γίγνηται, ὥ. <ὁ> εἰς Η῀λον πεμπόμενος” X.Mem.3.3.12; ὥσπερ differs from ὡς in Hom., in that it seldom has an antecedent expressed, as in Il.24.487, τηλίκου ὥ. ἐγών; also in Hes.Th.402, ὣς δ᾽ αὔτως . . , ὥ. ὑπέστη; but in Trag. and Att. ὥ. is very freq. after demonstr. words; before οὕτως, Meliss.3, Ar.Av.188; after it, S.Tr.475, etc.; ὥ. καὶ . . , οὕτω καὶ . . X.Cyr.7.5.75, cf. Pl.R.354b; ὥ . . , ὧδε . . S.OT276; “τοιοῦτος ὥ.” Pl.Prt.327d; αὐτοῦ ὥ. εἶχον just as they were, then and there, Hdt. 2.121.δ́, cf. S.Ant.1235; “εὐθὺς ὥ. εἶχεν” X.An.4.1.19; “εὐθὺς ὥ. ἔτυχε” Id.HG3.1.19; “τὰν τράπεζαν κάτθετε ὥ. ἔχει” Sophr. in PSI11.1214a2; καὶ τὸν δαελὸν σβῆτε ὥ. ἔχει on the spot, ib.14: c. gen., “ὥ. ἔχει δόξης” Pl.R.612d: strengthd., “ὥ. γε” just exactly as, Ar.Nu.673; ὥ. καί even as, “ὡς καὶ ἐγώ περ” Il.6.477; “ὥ. καὶ ἄλλο τι” Th.1.142, etc.: ὥ. also follows ἴσος, in Od.20.282, μοῖραν . . ἴσην, ὡς αὐτοί περ ἐλάγχανον, cf. S.El.533; so after ὁ αὐτός, Pl.Phd.86a, D.9.33; after “ὅμοιος, ὅμοιος ἀτμὸς ὥ. ἐκ τάφου πρέπει” A.Ag.1311, cf. Th.4.34.
2. ὥσπερ ἄν c. subj., v. infr.111; c. opt., “ὥσπερ ἄν τις . . λέγοι” Pl.Phd. 87b, cf. X.HG3.1.14; cf. “ὡσπερεί” 11.
II. to limit or modify an assertion or apologize for a metaphor, as it were, so to speak, “ὥ. ἀκονιτί” Th.4.73; “τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ὥ. σεσεῖσθαί μοι δοκεῖς” Ar.Nu. 1276, cf. Pax234; “ἅμα μὲν . . ὥ. ὑπεφθόνει” X.Cyr.4.1.13, cf. Pl.Phdr. 270d, Cra.384c; in later Gk. sts. after the word to which it refers, “ἐσφιγμένον ὥ.” Porph.Chr.26; βάθρον ὥ. Sch.Pi.O.8.33; στέφανος ὥ. τῶν πόλεων τὰ τείχη ib.42: freq. with parts., “ὥ. ἐγγελῶσα” S.El. 277; “ὥ. ἐντεταμένου τοῦ σώματος” Pl.Phd.86b; ὥ. τι τῶν ἄλλων εὐλόγως πεποιηκότες as if they had done, Lys.12.7; ὥ. ἐξόν as if it were in our power, X.An.3.1.14; “σιωπῇ ἐδείπνουν, ὥ. τοῦτο ἐπιτεταγμένον αὐτοῖς” Id.Smp.1.11, cf. Mem.2.3.3; with a change of construction, “ὥ. τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον ἔχοντα ἀνάγκην . . , καὶ οὔτε . . οἷόν τε εἴη γενέσθαι” Id.HG2.3.19; τὴν ὥ. ἐπὶ τοῦ δίφρου ἕδραν a seat like that used in the chariot, Id.Eq.7.5.
III. rarely of Time,
1. ὥσπερ ἄν = ἕως ἄν, so long as, or however long (cf. ὡς Ad. 2), “ὥσπερ ἂν ζῶ” S.OC1361 (sed leg. ἕωσπερ).
2. as soon as, Ar.Pax24.