noun 1. a round metal container for food or drink ○ He opened a can of lemonade. ○ Empty beer cans were all over the pavement. ○ Can you open a can of beans? (NOTE: British English also uses tin to mean a container of food, but not of drink.) 2. □ to carry the can for something to take responsibility or blame for something (informal.) ○ They all ran away and left me to carry the can. ■ modal verb 1. to be able to do something ○ He can swim well but he can’t ride a bike. ○ She can’t run as fast as I can. ○ Can you remember what the doctor told us to do? ○ I can’t bear to watch any longer. 2. to be allowed to do something ○ Children under 18 can’t drive cars. ○ He says we can go in. ○ The policeman says we can’t park here. 3. to ask politely ○ Can we come in, please? ○ Can you shut the door, please? (NOTE: The negative is cannot, usually can’t. The past tense is could, could not, usually couldn’t. Can and could are only used with other verbs, and are not followed by the word to.) ■ verb to put food in cans ○ The town has a factory where they can sardines. (NOTE: canning – canned)
can
an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.] “With gentle words he can faile gree.
Spenser.”
Spenser.”
can
n. [OE. & AS. canne; akin to D. Kan, G. Kanne, OHG. channa, Sw. Kanna, Dan. kande.]
1. A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids. [Shak. ] “Fill the cup and fill can,
Have a rouse before the morn.
Tennyson.”
2. A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can. A can may be a cylinder open at the top, as for receiving the sliver from a carding machine, or with a removable cover or stopper, as for holding tea, spices, milk, oysters, etc., or with handle and spout, as for holding oil, or hermetically sealed, in canning meats, fruits, etc. The name is also sometimes given to the small glass or earthenware jar used in canning.
1. A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids. [Shak. ] “Fill the cup and fill can,
Have a rouse before the morn.
Tennyson.”
2. A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can. A can may be a cylinder open at the top, as for receiving the sliver from a carding machine, or with a removable cover or stopper, as for holding tea, spices, milk, oysters, etc., or with handle and spout, as for holding oil, or hermetically sealed, in canning meats, fruits, etc. The name is also sometimes given to the small glass or earthenware jar used in canning.
can
v. t. [imp. & p. p. Canned p. pr. &vb. n. Canning.] To preserve by putting in sealed cans [U. S.] ´Canned meats´ W. D. Howells. Canned goods, a general name for fruit, vegetables, meat, or fish, preserved in hermetically sealed cans.
can
v. t. & i. [The transitive use is obsolete.] [imp. Could (#).] [OE. cunnen, cannen (1st sing. pres. I can), to know, know how, be able, AS. cunnan, 1st sing. pres. ic cann or can, pl. cunnon, 1st sing. imp. cuðe (for cunðe); p. p. cuð (for cunð); akin to OS. Kunnan, D. Kunnen, OHG. chunnan, G. können, Icel. kunna, Goth. Kunnan, and E. ken to know. The present tense I can (AS. ic cann) was originally a preterit, meaning I have known or Learned, and hence I know, know how. rad.45. See Ken, Know; cf. Con, Cunning, Uncouth.]
1. To know; to understand. [Obs.] “I can rimes of Rodin Hood.
Piers Plowman.” “I can no Latin, quod she.
Piers Plowman.” “Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can.
Shak.”
2. To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] “The will of Him who all things can.
Milton.” “For what, alas can these my single arms?
Shak.” “Maecaenas and Agrippa, who can most with Caesar.
Beau. & Fl.”
3. To be able; — followed by an infinitive without to; as I can go, but do not wish to. Syn. — Can but, Can not but. It is an error to use the former of these phrases where the sens requires the latter. If we say, ´I can but perish if I go,´ ´But´ means only, and denotes that this is all or the worst that can happen. When the apostle Peter said. ´We can not but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.´ he referred to a moral constraint or necessety which rested upon him and his associates; and the meaning was We cannot help speaking, We cannot refrain from speaking. This idea of a moral necessity or constraint is of frequent occurrence, and is also expressed in the phrase, ´I can not help it.´ Thus we say. ´I can not but hope,´ ´I can not but believe,´ ´I can not but think,´ ´I can not but remark,´ etc., in cases in which it would be an error to use the phrase can but. “Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, … in the sudden appearances and vanishings … of the masque
De Quincey.” “Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer.
Dickens.”
1. To know; to understand. [Obs.] “I can rimes of Rodin Hood.
Piers Plowman.” “I can no Latin, quod she.
Piers Plowman.” “Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can.
Shak.”
2. To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] “The will of Him who all things can.
Milton.” “For what, alas can these my single arms?
Shak.” “Maecaenas and Agrippa, who can most with Caesar.
Beau. & Fl.”
3. To be able; — followed by an infinitive without to; as I can go, but do not wish to. Syn. — Can but, Can not but. It is an error to use the former of these phrases where the sens requires the latter. If we say, ´I can but perish if I go,´ ´But´ means only, and denotes that this is all or the worst that can happen. When the apostle Peter said. ´We can not but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.´ he referred to a moral constraint or necessety which rested upon him and his associates; and the meaning was We cannot help speaking, We cannot refrain from speaking. This idea of a moral necessity or constraint is of frequent occurrence, and is also expressed in the phrase, ´I can not help it.´ Thus we say. ´I can not but hope,´ ´I can not but believe,´ ´I can not but think,´ ´I can not but remark,´ etc., in cases in which it would be an error to use the phrase can but. “Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, … in the sudden appearances and vanishings … of the masque
De Quincey.” “Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer.
Dickens.”
"But you can come back and become king. Then everything will be right again," Nala said.
The scentence about “The Lion King”.
Meaning of “can” in English language – noun 1. a round metal container for food...
Request to translate if there is no definitions or definitions is not clear enough "can"?
Ask a question if something is not clear about the word "can".
To improve and add new definitions to the English dictionary, we need your support.
You can also help by adding definitions of words to the database.
Thank you!