can

participle present suppletive able · past could · obsolete participle past couth · first person past singular could · archaic present second person singular canst · archaic present second person singular cannest · past second person singular could · archaic past second person singular couldst · archaic past second person singular couldest · archaic past second person singular could'st · archaic present rare singular third person canneth · past singular third person could · past plural could · past subjunctive could · participle present able · archaic participle present canning

1. auxiliarydefectiveTo know how to.

   I can play football.

   3 more examples

   She can speak English, French, and German.

   prouyng which eny clerk can or woel or mai make bi eny maner euydence of resoun or of Scripture, and namelich of resoun into the contrarie.

   1449, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting [blaming] of the Clergie

   If thou canst awake by four o' the clock, / I prithee call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly.

   1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

   Antonyms: cannot, can't

2. auxiliarydefectiveTo be able to.

   Can you hear that?

   4 more examples

   Can you remember your fifth birthday?

   Animals can experience emotions.

   I can feel the baby moving inside me.

   Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

   2013 July–August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist

   Synonyms: be able to · Antonyms: cannot, can't

3. auxiliarydefectiveinformalmodalMay; to be permitted or enabled to.

   Can I use your pen?

   1 more example

   You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.

   Synonyms: may · Antonyms: cannot, can't, may not, mayn't

4. auxiliarydefectivemodalTo have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to.

   Can it be Friday already?

   4 more examples

   You can not only learn English here, you can also practice with native speakers.

   Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.

   The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

   Teenagers can be so cruel, and nicknames cut deep.

   2009, Annette Sym, Simply Too Good to be True, Greenleaf Book Group, →ISBN, page 4

   Antonyms: cannot, can't

5. auxiliarydefectiveinformalmodalUsed to form requests, typically polite.

   Can we try that scene again?

   1 more example

   Can you please come over here?

6. obsoletetransitiveTo know.

   ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman I can no Latin, quod she.

   2 more examples

   ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman I can rimes of Robin Hood.

   Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can.

   1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: cognize, grok, ken

7. IndianonstandardproscribedTo be (followed by a word like able, possible, allowed). third-person singular simple present indicative of can

   Importance of Identifying Leaf: Identify Plants: If we can able to identify leaf, we can easily able to identify plants.

   2011 November 29, Tai-hoon Kim, Hojjat Adeli, Carlos Ramos, Byeong-Ho Kang, Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition: International Conferences, SIP 2011, Held as Part of the Future Generation Information Technology Conference, FGIT 2011, in Conjunction with GDC 2011, Jeju Island, Korea, December 8-10, 2011. Proceedings, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 114

   2 more examples

   Children in need of care and protection can allowed to be placed in foster care based on the orders of the CWC. The selection of the foster family is based on the family's ability, intent, capacity, and prior experience of taking care[…]

   2018 February 15, Asha Bajpai, Child Rights in India: Law, Policy, and Practice, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

   It can possible to design the ruleset refreshes that allow them to subsequently run at precise interludes and these keep informed.

   2020 May 22, Pardeep Kumar, Vasaki Ponnusamy, Vishal Jain, Industrial Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems: Transforming the Conventional to Digital: Transforming the Conventional to Digital, IGI Global, →ISBN, page 226

8. ManglishSinglishauxiliaryintransitiveTo be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.

   Can anot?

   You good? Need help?

9. ManglishSinglishintransitiveTo be fine or acceptable; to be possible; (with liao or already) to be enough. Often used in conjunction with a variety of clause-final particles, e.g., lah, meh or one, to express different attitudes towards the subject matter.

   Can liao, don’t need to use so much glue.

   That’s enough glue already.

   3 more examples

   We have been doing this for 50 years, we have shown you what we can do. If I say can, means can. […]

   2015 September 5, Derrick Ho, Chew Hui Min, Lee Min Kok, Shea Driscoll, Nilanjana Sengupta, Melissa Heng, Ong Hwee Hwee, quoting Lee Hsien Loong, “GE2015: 5 things about the third night of rallies on Sept 4”, in The Straits Times

   It’s further exacerbated by well-intentioned but misguided relatives who say, “you’re from School X, can one lah”, or worse, those who associate the very identity of being a student in an elite academy into a label analogous with expectations of high achievements.

   2021 August 5, Zat Astha, “The Lessons We’re Still Learning Too Slowly About Mental Health and Suicide”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 11 Dec 2024

   When controversial KOL Sylvia Chan resurfaced in March as a life coach, the general online sentiment was, “Huh, can meh?”

   2024 June 10, Kimberly Lim, “What’s With Singapore’s Surge in Self-Proclaimed Life Coaches?”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2024

alternative obsolete canne · alternative pronunciation spelling kin · alternative pronunciation spelling c'

1. ManglishSinglishOK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.
2. ManglishSinglishUsed to convey reassurance.

alternative obsolete canne · alternative pronunciation spelling kin · alternative pronunciation spelling c'

1. ManglishSinglishinterrogativeOK(?); used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.

   I cut this wire, can?

   I’ll cut this wire, OK?

   2 more examples

   Can you go collect them or not? The shop is at Jalan Sultan. I’m not free, otherwise I’ll do it myself. Can?

   1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 1–3

   It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?

   2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 23 May 2024

plural cans

1. A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.

   I keep a can of fuel for emergencies.

   1. A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.

      Soup in a can lasts for years.

      Synonyms: tin, bin

2. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
3. archaicA chamber pot.
   1. USarchaicslanga toilet or lavatory.

      Shit or get off the can.

      3 more examples

      Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.

      I didn't have anything special to do, so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving.

      1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 35

      1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure If he was going to hide out in the can, he can just stay there & sleep in the tub.

      Synonyms: chamber, chamber pot, chemical toilet, commode, Cousin John, crapper, gazunder, guzunder

4. CanadaUSchildishmildlyslangvulgarButtocks.
5. CanadaUSmildlyslangvulgarThe breasts of a woman.
6. slangJail or prison.

   Bob’s in the can. He won’t be back for a few years.

   1 more example

   The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man / Even back in childhood, he wanted to see him in the can

   1988, The Traveling Wilburys, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1

7. in pluralslangHeadphones.
8. archaicA drinking cup.

   Fill the cup and fill the can: / Have a rouse before the morn: / Every minute dies a man, / Every minute one is born.

   1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Vision of Sin”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 218

   2 more examples

   VVhen the vulgar ſort / Sit on their Ale-bench, vvith their cups and kannes, / Matters of ſtate be not their common talke, / Nor pure religion by their lips prophande.

   1600, [Michael Drayton, Richard Hathwaye, Anthony Munday, Robert Wilson], The First Part of the True and Honorable Historie, of the Life of Sir John Old-castle, the Good Lord Cobham. […], London: […] [V[alentine] S[immes]] for Thomas Pauier, […], →OCLC

   SIR ANDREW: Nay, my troth, I know not: but I know, to be up late is to be up late. / SIR TOBY: A false conclusion: I hate it as an unfilled can.

   c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

9. nauticalA cylindrical buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
10. A chimney pot.
11. in pluralslangAn E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
12. USslangAn ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.

    […] prosecution for selling and giving away marijuana, the evidence clearly constituted substantial proof that a package purchased by defendant contained marijuana where he requested "four cans" of marijuana to be delivered to himself and […]

    1970, California. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California

13. A protective cover for the fuel element in a nuclear reactor.

present singular third person cans · participle present canning · participle past canned · past canned · first person past singular canned · past second person singular canned · present singular third person cans · past singular third person canned · past plural canned · past subjunctive canned · participle present canning · participle past canned

1. transitiveTo seal in a can.

   They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.

2. transitiveTo preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.

   They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.

3. transitiveTo discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).

   He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.

   1 more example

   My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester - although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.

   2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68

   Synonyms: bin

4. slangtransitiveTo shut up.

   Can your gob.

   1 more example

   Maurrant: Aw, can all that talk! You been listenin’ to them bolshevikis, that’s the trouble.

   1929, Elmer Rice, Street Scene, New York City: Samuel French, Act II, page 146

   Synonyms: can it

5. USeuphemistictransitiveTo fire or dismiss an employee.

   The boss canned him for speaking out.

   1 more example

   As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of "professional inadequacy" and failing to embody the "party" atmosphere that the consultancy was trying to cultivate.

   2022 November 25, Ben Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post, NYP Holdings, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2022

   Synonyms: axe

6. slangtransitivegolfTo hole the ball.

   I thought I had canned it, but it just missed, and I tapped in the second one for a par.

   1958, Dick Mayer, How to Think and Swing Like a Golf Champion, page 186

7. transitiveTo cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.

1. A river in Essex, England, which joins the River Chelmer in Chelmsford; in full, the River Can.

1. A unisex given name from Vietnamese.

   Police say Huu Can Tran, 72, opened fire at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park, on Saturday night, before fatally shooting himself after a manhunt across the region on Sunday.

   2023 January 23, Jeff Winter, Casey Tolan, Scott Glover, “Gunman had been a regular patron at dance hall he attacked, according to people who knew him”, in CNN, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2023

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Can.

1. abbreviationautomotiveAbbreviation of Controller Area Network, ISO standards 11898, 11898-1, 11898-2, and its predecessor standards.

plural CANs

1. uncountablechemistryceric ammonium nitrate
2. abbreviationcountableautomotiveAbbreviation of controller area network.
3. abbreviationcountableinitialismcomputingInitialism of campus area network.
4. South AfricaabbreviationacronymcountableAcronym of community action network.
5. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of consistent and asymptotically normal, a statistic estimator Tₙ(X₁, X₂, ..., Xₙ) is CAN (consistent and asymptotically normal) if ....
6. AustraliaabbreviationacronymcountableAcronym of court attendance notice.

1. initialismThe Andean Community of Nations.