can
auxiliary verb
to be able to; have the ability, power, or skill to.
can
1 American
[kan, kuhn]
/ kæn, kən /
auxiliary verb
-
can,
present (3rd person singular)
-
could
past
-
to be able to; have the ability, power, or skill to.
She can solve the problem easily, I'm sure.
-
to know how to.
He can play chess, although he's not particularly good at it.
-
to have the power or means to.
A dictator can impose his will on the people.
-
to have the right or qualifications to.
He can change whatever he wishes in the script.
-
may; have permission to.
Can I speak to you for a moment?
-
to have the possibility.
A coin can land on either side.
verb (used with or without object)
-
can,
present (3rd person singular)
-
could,
past, past participle
-
cunning
present participle
can
2
American
[kan]
/ kæn /
noun
-
cans
plural
-
a sealed container for food, beverages, etc., as of aluminum, sheet iron coated with tin, or other metal.
a can of soup.
-
a receptacle for garbage, ashes, etc..
a trash can.
-
a bucket, pail, or other container for holding or carrying liquids.
water can.
-
a drinking cup; tankard.
-
a metal or plastic container for holding film on cores or reels.
-
Slang. jail.
He's been in the can for a week.
-
Slang: Sometimes Vulgar. buttocks.
-
Slang. cans, a set of headphones designed to cover the ears.
-
Military Slang.
-
a depth charge.
-
a destroyer.
-
verb (used with object)
canned,
canning
-
to preserve by sealing in a can, jar, etc.
-
Slang. to dismiss; fire.
-
Slang. to throw (something) away.
-
Slang. to put a stop to.
Can that noise!
-
to record, as on film or tape.
idioms
-
carry the can, to take the responsibility.
-
in the can, recorded on film; completed.
The movie is in the can and ready for release.
can.
3
American
abbreviation
-
canceled.
-
canon.
-
canto.
Can.
4
American
abbreviation
-
Canada.
-
Canadian.
can
1
British
/ kæn /
noun
-
a container, esp for liquids, usually of thin sheet metal
a petrol can
beer can
-
another name (esp US) for tin
-
Also called: canful. the contents of a can or the amount a can will hold
-
a slang word for prison
-
a slang word for toilet or buttocks See toilet
-
navy a slang word for destroyer
-
slang navy a depth charge
-
a shallow cylindrical metal container of varying size used for storing and handling film
-
informal a complicated problem
-
See carry
-
-
(of a film, piece of music, etc) having been recorded, processed, edited, etc
-
informal arranged or agreed
the contract is almost in the can
-
verb
-
to put (food, etc) into a can or cans; preserve in a can
-
slang (tr) to dismiss from a job
-
informal (tr) to stop (doing something annoying or making an annoying noise) (esp in the phrase can it! )
-
informal (tr) to reject or discard
can
2
British
/ kæn, kən /
verb
-
used as an auxiliary to indicate ability, skill, or fitness to perform a task
I can run a mile in under four minutes
-
used as an auxiliary to indicate permission or the right to something
can I have a drink?
-
used as an auxiliary to indicate knowledge of how to do something
he can speak three languages fluently
-
used as an auxiliary to indicate the possibility, opportunity, or likelihood
my trainer says I can win the race if I really work hard
Can.
3
British
abbreviation
-
Canada
-
Canadian
can
More Idioms
Usage
Can but and cannot but are formal and now somewhat old-fashioned expressions suggesting that there is no possible alternative to doing something. Can but is equivalent to can only: We can but do our best. Cannot but is the equivalent of cannot help but: We cannot but protest against these injustices. See also help.
Commonly Confused
Can1 and may1 are frequently but not always interchangeable in senses indicating possibility: A power failure can (or may ) occur at any time. Despite the insistence by some, that can means only “to be able” and may means “to be permitted,” both are regularly used in seeking or granting permission: Can (or May ) I borrow your glue gun? You can (or may ) use it tomorrow. Sentences using can occur chiefly in spoken English. May in this sense occurs more frequently in formal contexts: May I address the court, Your Honor? In negative constructions, can't or cannot is more common than may not : You can't have it today. I need it myself. The contraction mayn't is rare.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cansimple
-
have couldperfect
-
has couldperfect
-
am cunningprogressive
-
are cunningprogressive
-
is cunningprogressive
-
have been cunningperfect progressive
-
has been cunningperfect progressive
Past
-
couldsimple
-
had couldperfect
-
was cunningprogressive
-
were cunningprogressive
-
had been cunningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of can1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English, present indicative singular 1st, 3rd person of cunnan “to know, know how”; cognate with German, Old Norse, Gothic kann; see ken, know 1
Origin of can2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English canne, can(e), Old English canne, cognate with German Kanne, Old Norse kanna, all perhaps from West Germanic; compare Late Latin canna “small vessel”
Explanation
A can is a metal container, usually cylindrical in shape, which has an airtight seal when it's new. All kinds of goods come in cans, from fruit and vegetables to paint and oil. The verb can means to preserve food in a can or glass jar. If your garden produces more tomatoes than you can possibly eat, you might make salsa and can it to eat all winter long. Can is also a slang word with several meanings. It means rear end, toilet, and it also means to fire someone: "Watch out, the boss canned three people yesterday! You could be next."
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:
Side effects can include nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea and, more rarely, gallbladder or kidney problems and depression.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
He added: "Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and we are all hoping that the other injured parties can pull through."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Brook's father David recently had his 50th birthday party at the club, while Harry still nets there and gets along to watch while he can.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
"I think what we need to be very careful of is misinformation that's circulating on social media, as that rhetoric absolutely fuels community tensions and can lead to protests as we've seen recently," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
They call it "sepsis," and they know from bitter experience how quickly a "septic" wound can go from slight redness to gross swelling to a fatal condition called gangrene.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
“We need to get sick people out of their communities as fast as we can. We are doing our best to work with local leaders; otherwise, they will continue infecting others,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“We’re all comrades in this. I feel so good to be here and help however I can. Many of us don’t have that luxury.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
"You try to offer support as much as you can. You want to be close to those who are suffering. You notice a lot of sadness and despair."
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
"I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion."
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
“As often as I can. But you know married women have never much time for writing. My sisters may write to me. They will have nothing else to do.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
When the apartment finally went quiet, I opened my Notes app and typed: “You. Can. Have. It. All.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Max Dufour Montreal, Can., backside 360 kickflip tail grab to fakie 3.
From Time Magazine Archive
Salt-marshes and shores, Can. to Ga.—Var. elòdes, Gray, slender, often low and simple; leaves thickish, long, narrowly linear, entire, the uppermost small and bract-like; scales narrow, with short and mostly spreading acutish tips.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray
Those of British Columbia, Can., gave the Provincial franchise but had not the power to give it for Dominion elections.
From The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V by Ida Husted Harper
Can., 56., says that by the canon law, he that is archipresbyter is also called dean.
From Notes and Queries, Number 231, April 1, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
The passengers’ extra clothing was wrapped in a mattress cover, and in the center of the group stood a few cans of beans and two sacks of flour — all their remaining possessions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Unable to find work or pay to see a doctor, he has resorted to recycling cans and bottles to support himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Savannah and her mother joked about the javelinas, the piglike animals that foraged through the family’s trash cans at night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Fellow tourist Vladislav, who arrived by road from the Russian region of Krasnodar, said he had brought jerry cans filled with petrol in case he was unable to find fuel.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Mrs. Dorfer was on her knees stuffing cans and boxes into a big blue recycling bag.
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
McManus says there could be many reasons why a person's ethnicity is not put out in the media.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“It blows my mind that people could be so cruel,” she told the New York Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
If Geely secures a 150,000-unit capacity at the Valencia plant, which has an annual capacity of about 400,000 vehicles, it could cost just 10% to 20% of building a new factory, according to Citi estimates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Burnt books could be seen on the ground.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“We could leave now,” Father insists, stepping closer.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The story of the “Wooden Horse,” as most translations call it, gets only brief references in Homer’s epic, cited in passing as an example of Odysseus’s cunning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
He is cunning, not intelligent — something he unwittingly proves every time he claims that passing a basic mental competency test shows his brilliance.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
When free agency opens Tuesday, Pelinka is just going to have to show us how creative he can be, how clever and cunning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
He was the runner-up in 2022, armed with the cunning plan of writing a good song – the 70s glam rock pastiche Space Man – and being good at performing it.
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
He wheeled a cunning rolling rack of stacked lanterns up next to the Plant and lit them, nine lanterns in all.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Keep foods like dried and canned beans, canned tomatoes, tinned fish, olive oil, and a variety of whole grains on hand so you always have something to cook with.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
"This isn't just a brand campaign for a new sparkling canned drink. It's the people who are supposed to be running the country," wrote The Times's social media editor, Esme Hewitt.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The show, meanwhile, suggests that ordinary Americans priced out of meat try fish — any fish, even canned.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
It was his idea to organize a food drive on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon in the school parking lot, encouraging anyone and everyone to bring canned goods to help out his community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
There was not a single item of conventional trail food—raisins or peanuts or small, portable quantities of packets or canned goods—which was a little dispiriting in a national park.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
While the canning process preserved the outer structure of the worms, it destroyed the internal features scientists would need to identify specific species.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026
Chicken of the Sea International is studying whether the ruling could help revive production at a Georgia canning plant that relies on imported tuna.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
Guinness 0.0 products are canned in the Belfast factory while the Runcorn facility carries out the kegging, bottling and canning of Guinness Draught products.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Like many canners, Dash relies on canning to make ends meet, but it is not his only income.
From Slate ● Nov. 27, 2024
Filled the hog trough and walked through the pickers’ cabins to see that they hadn’t relieved themselves in pilfered canning jars.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
