can opener
noun
a manual device or small electric appliance for opening cans.
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can opener
Americannoun
-
can openers
plural
can-opener
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of can opener
First recorded in 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Traynor’s can opener, adorned with earth-toned stones, will brighten up your kitchen and turn a low-key night of home cooking into a unique and surprisingly delightful experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2025
Page count-wise, it looks less like "War and Peace" and more like a user manual for a can opener.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2024
His AK-47 is slung over his shoulder; on his body armour hangs a spoon, a can opener, and a small pair of pliers.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2023
When I used to volunteer at food banks, when someone came in who was unhoused, we would pick out foods that were nonperishable, didn’t have to be cooked, and didn’t require a can opener.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2022
“Maybe you could make yourself useful and find the can opener, since you enjoy searching for things so very much.”
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
The can-opener now is access to locked doors of knowledge and services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2025
After their not very meet-cute can-opener moment, the next significant interaction between Dave and Fern comes at a bar when he asks her to dance, tripping over his words a little.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2021
Still, at least the thing exists — in a weird quirk of history, the can-opener wasn’t invented until 1870, a lengthy 48 years after the can itself.
From Time ● Jun. 15, 2016
As you approach Vitamix’s headquarters, the first thing you see is a log cabin that housed the company after it was founded in 1921 by a traveling can-opener salesman named William Grover “Papa” Barnard.
From BusinessWeek ● Dec. 19, 2013
They found tiers upon tiers of canned goods, and Billie, because she was the first to find a can-opener, was pronounced "official can-opener," and opened cans till her arm ached.
From Billie Bradley at Three Towers Hall or, Leading a Needed Rebellion by Wheeler, Janet D.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
