Definition of Could. Meaning of Could. Synonyms of Could

Here you will find one or more explanations in English for the word Could. Also in the bottom left of the page several parts of wikipedia pages related to the word Could and, of course, Could synonyms and on the right images related to the word Could.

Definition of Could

Could
Can Can, v. t. & i. Note: [The transitive use is obsolete.] [imp. Could.] [OE. cunnen, cannen (1st sing. pres. I can), to know, know how, be able, AS. cunnan, 1st sing. pres. ic cann or can, pl. cunnon, 1st sing. imp. c[=u][eth]e (for cun[eth]e); p. p. c[=u][eth] (for cun[eth]); akin to OS. Kunnan, D. Kunnen, OHG. chunnan, G. k["o]nnen, Icel. kunna, Goth. Kunnan, and E. ken to know. The present tense I can (AS. ic cann) was originally a preterit, meaning I have known or Learned, and hence I know, know how. [root]45. See Ken, Know; cf. Con, Cunning, Uncouth.] 1. To know; to understand. [Obs.] I can rimes of Rodin Hood. --Piers Plowman. I can no Latin, quod she. --Piers Plowman. Let the priest in surplice white, That defunctive music can. --Shak. 2. To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] The will of Him who all things can. --Milton. For what, alas, can these my single arms? --Shak. M[ae]c[ae]nas and Agrippa, who can most with C[ae]sar. --Beau. & Fl. 3. To be able; -- followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to. Syn: Can but, Can not but. It is an error to use the former of these phrases where the sens requires the latter. If we say, ``I can but perish if I go,' ``But' means only, and denotes that this is all or the worst that can happen. When the apostle Peter said. ``We can not but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.' he referred to a moral constraint or necessety which rested upon him and his associates; and the meaning was, We cannot help speaking, We cannot refrain from speaking. This idea of a moral necessity or constraint is of frequent occurrence, and is also expressed in the phrase, ``I can not help it.' Thus we say. ``I can not but hope,' ``I can not but believe,' ``I can not but think,' ``I can not but remark,' etc., in cases in which it would be an error to use the phrase can but. Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, . . . in the sudden appearances and vanishings . . . of the masque --De Quincey. Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer. --Dickens.
Could
Could Could (k??d), imp. of Can. [OF. coude. The l was inserted by mistake, under the influence of should and would.] Was, should be, or would be, able, capable, or susceptible. Used as an auxiliary, in the past tense or in the conditional present.

Meaning of Could from wikipedia

- in the third-person singular. The prin****l English modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would. Certain other verbs are...
- If Beale Street Could Talk is a 2018 American romantic drama film directed and written by Barry Jenkins, based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name...
- If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1974 novel by American writer James Baldwin. His fifth novel (and 13th book overall), it is a love story set in Harlem...
- could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood". Other—similarly unhelpful—responses include "So much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could...
- chart. In September 2017, the band released their first EP, Everything I Could Never Say... They released the single "These Are My Friends" in May 2018...
- acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. K ^ "Where Could He Be" did not enter the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but peaked at number...
- "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time" is a song by R. Kelly, released as the fifth single from his 1998 album, R.. The song is a sweeping ballad about...
- "someone who was afraid to be alone, who could not hang on to reality long enough to hold a job, and who could rarely concentrate enough to read a book...
- achievements of the scientific revolution had shown that all phenomena could eventually be explained in terms of 'mechanical' laws, natural laws governing...
- Book of Abraham, and which "made a lasting impression" on him. "If You Could Hie to Kolob" (hie, to hasten) is a Latter-day Saint hymn that was written...
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