English Explanatory Dictionary

can

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To know how to.
  2. To be able to.
  3. May; to be permitted or enabled to.
  4. To have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to.
  5. Used to form requests, typically polite.
  6. To know.
  7. To be (followed by a word like able, possible, allowed). third-person singular simple present indicative of can
  8. To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.
  9. To 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.
intj
  1. OK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.
  2. Used to convey reassurance.
particle
  1. OK(?); used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.
noun
  1. A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.
  2. A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.
  3. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
  4. A chamber pot.
  5. a toilet or lavatory.
  6. Buttocks.
  7. The breasts of a woman.
  8. Jail or prison.
  9. Headphones.
  10. A drinking cup.
  11. A cylindrical buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
  12. A chimney pot.
verb
  1. To seal in a can.
  2. To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
  3. To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
  4. To shut up.
  5. To fire or dismiss an employee.
  6. To hole the ball.
  7. To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.
name
  1. Alternative spelling of Can.
  2. A river in Essex, England, which joins the River Chelmer in Chelmsford; in full, the River Can.
  3. A unisex given name; used primarily as a middle name.
name
  1. Abbreviation of Controller Area Network, ISO standards 11898, 11898-1, 11898-2, and its predecessor standards.
noun
  1. ceric ammonium nitrate
  2. Abbreviation of controller area network.
  3. Initialism of campus area network.
  4. Acronym of community action network.
  5. Initialism of consistent and asymptotically normal, a statistic estimator Tₙ(X₁, X₂, ..., Xₙ) is CAN (consistent and asymptotically normal) if ....
  6. Acronym of court attendance notice.
name
  1. The Andean Community of Nations.

Pronunciation

/ˈkæn/ [ˈkʰæn] /ˈkeə̯n/ [ˈkʰeə̯n] /ˈkɛə̯n/ [ˈkʰɛə̯n] en-us-can.ogg /ˈkeːn/ [ˈkʰeːn] /ˈkɛn/ [ˈkʰɛn] /kən/ [kʰən] ~ [kʰn̩] kăn /ˈkan/ /ˈkaːn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-can.wav /ˈkæːn/ [ˈkeən]

Word forms

can able could couth no-table-tags glossary canst cannest couldst couldest could'st canneth canning canne kin c' cans canned

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥néh₃ti Proto-Germanic *kunnaną Proto-West Germanic *kunnan Old English cunnan Middle English can English can From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

Synonyms

be able to may cognize grok ken tin bin can chamber chamber pot chemical toilet commode Cousin John crapper gazunder guzunder honey bucket honeypot Jerry john johnny jordan latrine mingo necessary stool pan pee pot pisspot piss pot po pot potty potty-chair shitbucket shitcan shitpot slop bucket stool stool of easement throne thunder mug toilet urinal big white telephone bog crapper trapper donniker dunny head highway to hell jacks jakes khazi lav pisser pooper porcelain god porcelain goddess privy Quincy

Antonyms

cannot can't may not mayn't

Related words

cancan can-can Obamacan Obama-can

Derived words

as best as one can as far as one can tell because one can before one can blink can but hope can-do can-doer can-do-ness can do with can haz can is can can I smoke can not can too can wait can you not could not get elected dogcatcher nice work if you can get it no can do nothing gold can stay one bad apple can spoil the barrel one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must unable to can what can I do you for what can I say what can I tell you what can one do what can you do ashcan booze can canakin can buoy can deposit candock can-eater canful can hook canhouse can house can kicker can-kicking cankin can light canlike Canner cannery cannular can of corn can of worms can opener cantenna carry the can cheese in a can chimney can crowler dunny can firecan gas can GI can

Translations

Albanian: kanaçe Arabic: صَفِيحَة Arabic: علبة Arabic: تنكة Aragonese: cozero Aragonese: cachuelo Aragonese: caxot Aragonese: caxoloto Armenian: անագ Assamese: টেমা Asturian: bote Asturian: lata Bulgarian: тенекиена кутия Catalan: llauna Cherokee: ᏔᎷᎩᏍᎩ Chinese Mandarin: 罐頭 /罐头 Czech: plechovka Danish: dåse Dutch: kan Esperanto: ladskatolo Estonian: karp Estonian: purk Faroese: blikk Finnish: purkki Finnish: tölkki French: bidon French: canette Galician: tango Galician: tanque Galician: canada Galician: cacharela Georgian: კალის Georgian: თუნუქის German: Blechdose German: Kanister Greek: κουτάκι Hebrew: פַּחִית Hungarian: doboz Icelandic: dós Indonesian: kaleng Italian: lattina Japanese: 缶 Khmer: កំប៉ង់ Khmer: កំប៉ុង Kikuyu: mũkebe Korean: 깡통 Korean: 통조림 Korean: 캔 Central Kurdish: قوتو Central Kurdish: تەنەکە Lao: ກະປ່ອງ Latvian: kārba Luxembourgish: Béchs Luxembourgish: Dous Luxembourgish: Biddong Macedonian: лименка Malay: tin Malay: kupi Malay: kaleng Māori: kēne Māori: tini Māori: kēna Marathi: कॅन Mongolian: цагаан тугалга Mongolian: лааз
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