can-do
[kan-doo]
- marked by purposefulness and efficiency: a can-do executive.
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- the quality of being efficient and enthusiastic.
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Origin of can-do
First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
resilientflexiblecompliantmalleableversatileAC-DCadjustablechangeableconformableconvertibleductileplasticpliablepliantsuppletractablevariablealterablemoldablecan-doExamples from the Web for can-do
Contemporary Examples
We all know a few Elizabeth Banks—people who cruise through life at a steady clip of can-do energy.
Why is our can-do country, tied at inception to the pursuit of happiness, so reliably interested in visions of its own demise?
I argued he should be moved over to a political adviser slot, where his considerable, can-do talents would better serve his boss.
On the other end of the phone was my Grandma Rose, a can-do matriarch calling from her home on Avenue U, six blocks away.
Americans are can-do people who will quickly fix their problems if allowed to do so in a rational context.
Historical Examples
A tug, the Gando, immediately re-named the Can-do, brought out our lighters of coal.
The BonadventureEdmund Blunden
can-do
- confident and resourceful in the face of challengesa can-do attitude
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for can-do
adj.
by 1952, from expression can do "it is possible," literally "(I or we) can do (it)," 1903, perhaps based on earlier no can do (see no).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper