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Can Can, v. t. & i. Note: [The transitive use is obsolete.]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...
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- 100. 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...
- could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood". Other—similarly unhelpful—responses include "So much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could...
- If Beale Street Could Talk is a 2018 American romantic drama film directed and written by Barry Jenkins, and based on James Baldwin's novel of the same...
- 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...
- The Little Engine That Could is an American fairytale (existing in the form of several illustrated children's books and movies) that became widely known...
- composers began to distribute the songs between scenes, they realized the story could be told in the structure of a more traditional book musical, and they replaced...
- "Because I could not stop for Death" is a lyrical poem by Emily ****inson first published posthumously in Poems: Series 1 in 1890. The persona of ****inson's...
- Elena Ceaușescu (Romanian pronunciation: [eˈlena t͡ʃe̯auˈʃesku]; née Lenuța Petrescu; 7 January 1916 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician...
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