First recorded in 1865–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One character, for reasons you’ll observe, wordlessly switches from soup cans that require them to use a can opener to ones with a pull tab.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
A manual can opener is a must for accessing canned goods, while a hand-crank food processor can help with basic meal prep.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2024
Pack protein bars, dried meats such as chicken jerky, dried fruits, nuts and canned goods with a manual can opener.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 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
Nan waved the can opener above her head.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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
Officers' ball; couldn't break in with a can-opener unless you had a invite.
From Molly McDonald A Tale of the Old Frontier by Blumenschein, Ernest L.
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.
