adjective
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preserved and stored in airtight cans or tins
canned meat
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informal prepared or recorded in advance; artificial; not spontaneous
canned music
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a slang word for drunk
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of canned
Explanation
Anything canned is stored in a jar or can. It’s usually food, but prerecorded music is also canned. And, if you get fired from a job, you’ve been canned. Don’t cry, though, it’s better than being stuck in a jar. When someone talks about "canned goods," they mean all the food you can buy that comes in a can, like canned green beans and canned pineapple. Home-preserved food is also canned, even if it's in a glass jar. This adjective takes on a derogatory slant when it describes music that's recorded rather than played live, or an answer that sounds prepared rather than real.
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.
The agreement will lower tariffs on more products, and give duty-free access to pasta, chocolate, potatoes, canned peaches, eggs and certain poultry products.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
"They gnaw everything except metal. Because of the mice, we had to eat all food products except canned food quickly, or else the mice would destroy them all."
From BBC • May 17, 2026
You can even rescue other canned beans from pantry purgatory: kidney, white, garbanzo, whatever you have on hand.
From Salon • May 5, 2026
Prosecutors have accused Soofer of faking invoices for fresh meals while clients were left to eat breakfast bars, canned beans and ramen noodles.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
It was pretty quiet except for a sudden burst of canned laughter from the neighbor’s TV and the occasional buzzing from an annoying mosquito.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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.
