can

can

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Chambri.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Chambri terms

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Can (verb)

Wikipedia

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

• canne (obsolete)
• kin (pronunciation spelling)

• (stressed) enPR: kănˈ
  • (Received Pronunciation, Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn/, ,
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn/, , (see /æ/ raising)
    • (Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛn/
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn/, , (see /æ/ raising)
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛn/,

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -æn
• (unstressed) enPR: kən, kn
  • IPA^(key): /kən/, ,

  • Audio (US, unstressed form):

    (file)

• Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can’t (), in order to differentiate can’t from can, pronounce can as /kɛn/ even when stressed.

can (third-person singular simple present can, present participle (by suppletion) able, simple past could, past participle (obsolete except in adjectival use) couth)

1. (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to.

   Antonyms: cannot, can't

   She can speak English, French, and German.

   I can play football.

   • 1449, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting of the Clergie:

     prouyng which eny clerk can or woel or mai make bi eny maner euydence of resoun or of Scripture, and namelich of resoun into the contrarie.

   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     If thou canst awake by four o' the clock, / I prithee call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly.

2. (auxiliary verb, defective) To be able to.

   Synonym: be able to

   Antonyms: cannot, can't

   Can you remember your fifth birthday?

   Animals can experience emotions.

   Can you hear that?

   I can feel the baby moving inside me.

   • 2013 July–August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

     Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

3. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) May; to be permitted or enabled to.

   Synonym: may

   Antonyms: cannot, can't, may not, mayn't

   You can go outside and play when you're finished with your homework.

   Can I use your pen?

4. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; to be possible for (someone or something) to.

   Antonyms: cannot, can't

   Can it be Friday already?

   Teenagers can really try their parents' patience.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

   • 2009, Annette Sym, Simply Too Good to be True, Greenleaf Book Group, →ISBN, page 4:

     Teenagers can be so cruel, and nicknames cut deep.

5. (modal auxiliary verb, defective, informal) Used to form requests, typically polite.

   Can you please come over here?

   Can we try that scene again?

6. (obsolete, transitive) To know.

   Synonyms: cognize, grok, ken

   • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman

     I can rimes of Robin Hood.

   • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman

     I can no Latin, quod she.

   • 1593, , Venus and Adonis, London: Richard Field, , →OCLC:

     Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can.

7. (India, nonstandard, proscribed) To be (followed by a word like able, possible, allowed). third-person singular simple present indicative of can
   • 2011 November 29, Tai-hoon Kim, Hojjat Adeli, Carlos Ramos, Byeong-Ho Kang, Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition: International Conferences, SIP 2011, Held as Part of the Future Generation Information Technology Conference, FGIT 2011, in Conjunction with GDC 2011, Jeju Island, Korea, December 8-10, 2011. Proceedings, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 114:

     Importance of Identifying Leaf: Identify Plants: If we can able to identify leaf, we can easily able to identify plants.

   • 2018 February 15, Asha Bajpai, Child Rights in India: Law, Policy, and Practice, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

     Children in need of care and protection can allowed to be placed in foster care based on the orders of the CWC. The selection of the foster family is based on the family's ability, intent, capacity, and prior experience of taking care 

   • 2020 May 22, Pardeep Kumar, Vasaki Ponnusamy, Vishal Jain, Industrial Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems: Transforming the Conventional to Digital: Transforming the Conventional to Digital, IGI Global, →ISBN, page 226:

     It can possible to design the ruleset refreshes that allow them to subsequently run at precise interludes and these keep informed.

9. (Manglish, Singlish, auxiliary or intransitive) To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.

   Can anot? ― You good? Need help?

11. (Manglish, Singlish, intransitive) To be fine or acceptable; to be possible; (with liao or already) to be enough. Often used in conjunction with a variety of clause-final particles, e.g., lah, meh or one, to express different attitudes towards the subject matter.

    Can liao, don’t need to use so much glue. ― That’s enough glue already.

    • 2015 September 5, Derrick Ho, Chew Hui Min, Lee Min Kok, Shea Driscoll, Nilanjana Sengupta, Melissa Heng, Ong Hwee Hwee, quoting Lee Hsien Loong, “GE2015: 5 things about the third night of rallies on Sept 4”, in The Straits Times:

      We have been doing this for 50 years, we have shown you what we can do. If I say can, means can.

    • 2021 August 5, Zat Astha, “The Lessons We’re Still Learning Too Slowly About Mental Health and Suicide”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 11 December 2024:

      It’s further exacerbated by well-intentioned but misguided relatives who say, “you’re from School X, can one lah”, or worse, those who associate the very identity of being a student in an elite academy into a label analogous with expectations of high achievements.

    • 2024 June 10, Kimberly Lim, “What’s With Singapore’s Surge in Self-Proclaimed Life Coaches?”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 19 September 2024:

      When controversial KOL Sylvia Chan resurfaced in March as a life coach, the general online sentiment was, “Huh, can meh?”

• For a missing form, substitute the appropriate inflected form of be able to, as:
  • I might be able to go.
  • (present perfect) I have been able to go, since I was seven.
  • (past perfect) I had been able to go before.
  • (future) I will be able to go tomorrow.
• For the simple conditional mood or past tense, the auxiliary verb could is commonly used (context usually makes it clear whether conditional or past is intended):
  • (conditional) I could go if it weren't raining is equivalent to I would be able to go if it weren't raining.
  • (past) When I was younger, I could go for miles is equivalent to When I was younger, I was able to go for miles.
• The present tense negative can not is usually contracted to cannot (more formal) or can’t (less formal).
• The use of can in asking permission is sometimes criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative “may I...?”.

• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

can

1. (Manglish, Singlish) OK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.
2. (Manglish, Singlish, with falling or rising-falling pitch) Used to convey reassurance.

can

1. (Manglish, Singlish, interrogative) OK?; used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.

   I cut this wire, can? ― I’ll cut this wire, OK?

   • 1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 1–3:

     Can you go collect them or not? The shop is at Jalan Sultan. I’m not free, otherwise I’ll do it myself. Can?

   • 2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:

     It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?

From Middle English canne, from Old English canne (“glass, container, cup, can”), from Proto-Germanic *kannǭ (“can, tankard, mug, cup”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: kăn, IPA^(key): /ˈkæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• (General Australian, Southern England) IPA^(key): /ˈkæːn/
• (æ-tensing) IPA^(key):

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

A can (sense 1) of hair spray with a clear cap.

An unlabeled corrugated can (sense 2), often used to store preserved foods.

can (plural cans)

1. A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.

   I keep a can of fuel for emergencies.

   1. A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.

      Synonym: (Australia, Britain, and some Commonwealth nations) tin

      Soup in a can lasts for years.

2. A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
3. (archaic) A chamber pot.
   1. (US, slang) a toilet or lavatory.

      (toilet): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:chamber pot, Thesaurus:toilet

      (place with a toilet): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bathroom

      Shit or get off the can.

      Bob's in the can. You can wait a few minutes or just leave it with me.

      • 1951 July 16, J D Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 35:

        I didn't have anything special to do, so I went down to the can and chewed the rag with him while he was shaving.

      • 1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure

        If he was going to hide out in the can, he can just stay there & sleep in the tub.

4. (childish or vulgar, slang, Canada, US) Buttocks.
5. (vulgar, slang, Canada, US) The breasts of a woman.
6. (slang) Jail or prison.

   Bob’s in the can. He won’t be back for a few years.

   • 1988, The Traveling Wilburys, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:

     The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man / Even back in childhood, he wanted to see him in the can

7. (slang, in the plural) Headphones.
8. (archaic) A drinking cup.
   • 1600, , The First Part of the True and Honorable Historie, of the Life of Sir John Old-castle, the Good Lord Cobham. ‎, London: S] for Thomas Pauier, , →OCLC:

     VVhen the vulgar ſort / Sit on their Ale-bench, vvith their cups and kannes, / Matters of ſtate be not their common talke, / Nor pure religion by their lips prophande.

   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     SIR ANDREW: Nay, my troth, I know not: but I know, to be up late is to be up late. / SIR TOBY: A false conclusion: I hate it as an unfilled can.

   • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Vision of Sin”, in Poems.  In Two Volumes.">…], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 218:

     Fill the cup and fill the can: / Have a rouse before the morn: / Every minute dies a man, / Every minute one is born.

9. (nautical) A cylindrical buoy or marker used to denote a port-side lateral mark
10. A chimney pot.
11. (slang, in the plural) An E-meter used in Scientology auditing.
12. (US, slang) An ounce (or sometimes, two ounces) of marijuana.
    • 1970, California. Supreme Court, Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California:

      prosecution for selling and giving away marijuana, the evidence clearly constituted substantial proof that a package purchased by defendant contained marijuana where he requested "four cans" of marijuana to be delivered to himself and

13. A protective cover for the fuel element in a nuclear reactor.

can (third-person singular simple present cans, present participle canning, simple past and past participle canned)

1. (transitive) To seal in a can.

   They canned air to sell as a novelty to tourists.

2. (transitive) To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.

   They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.

3. (transitive) To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).

   He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68:

     My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester - although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.

4. (transitive, slang) To shut up.

   Can your gob.

   • 1929, Elmer Rice, Street Scene, New York City: Samuel French, Act II, page 146:

     Maurrant: Aw, can all that talk! You been listenin’ to them bolshevikis, that’s the trouble.

5. (US, euphemistic, transitive) To fire or dismiss an employee.

   The boss canned him for speaking out.

   • 2022 November 25, B. Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post‎, NYP Holdings, retrieved 2022-11-27:

     As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of "professional inadequacy" and failing to embody the "party" atmosphere that the consultancy was trying to cultivate.

6. (golf, slang, transitive) To hole the ball.
   • 1958, Dick Mayer, How to Think and Swing Like a Golf Champion, page 186:

     I thought I had canned it, but it just missed, and I tapped in the second one for a par.

7. (transitive) To cover (the fuel element in a nuclear reactor) with a protective cover.

• (discard): bin, dump, scrap; see also Thesaurus:junk
• (shut up): can it, stifle; see also Thesaurus:stop talking or Thesaurus:make silent
• (dismiss an employee): axe, let go, sack; see also Thesaurus:lay off

• cancan / can-can
• Obamacan / Obama-can

• “can”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• ANC, CNA, NAC, NCA

Related to Somali caano, Oromo aannan and Saho xan.

• IPA^(key): /ˈħan/
• Hyphenation: can

cán m (plural caanowá f or canooná f)

1. milk

• Loren F. Bliese (1981) A Generative Grammar of Afar‎, Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington (doctoral thesis).
• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “can”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

From Latin canis, canem.

can m (plural cans)

1. dog

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “can”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

From Latin canis, canem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkan/
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: can

can m (plural canes)

1. dog (animal)

• perru

Old Anatolian Turkish جان (cān), from Persian جان (jân).

• IPA^(key): ,

• Audio:

  (file)

can (definite accusative canı, plural canlar)

1. soul, spirit
2. being, creature, life
3. body (in expressions concerning body sensations)

   Synonym: bədən

   Canım ağrıyır. ― My body is aching.

   Canıma üşütmə düşdü. ― My body is shivering.

4. force, vigour
5. life (the state of organisms preceding their death)

   canını almaq ― to kill (literally, “to take the life of”)

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia)

can

1. contraction of ca en (“the house of”)

• “can”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April

Clipping of English canteen.

can

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) canteen; restaurant (in a university campus)

Clipping of English cancer.

can

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) cancer

• cancer, 癌症 (áizhèng)

• cānin

• IPA^(key): /kaːn/

cān

1. where
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 4v. col. 2:

     Adonde?can?cancuixpan?cãcuix? cãyepa? canin? campa?Aduerbio.para preguntar.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • Idem, f. 12r. col. 2.

     Can?adonde?Aduerbio.para preguntar.

From Latin canem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaŋ/

can m (feminine singular câgna, masculine plural can, feminine plural câgni)

1. dog

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish جان (cān), from Persian جان (jân). Compare Turkish can, Azerbaijani can.

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɑn/

can (definite accusative canı, plural cannar)

1. an individual's life, soul, life

   canını ortaya koymaa

   to put one's life in line

2. soul, spirit
3. life, vigor

• Kopuşçu M. İ. , Todorova S. A. , Kiräkova T.İ., editors (2019), “can”, in Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 5-12, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN, page 40
• Mavrodi M. F., editor (2019), “can”, in Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 1-4, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN, page 20

• cam, cão (reintegrationist)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaŋ/
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Hyphenation: can

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese can, from Latin canis, canem. Cognate with Portuguese cão.

can m (plural cans)

1. dog

   Synonyms: cadelo, cuzo

   Cando o can ladra na rúa, non ladra de balde.

   When the dog barks in the street, it does not bark for nothing

2. (historical) 20th century 5, 10 cents of peseta coin

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese quan, from Latin quam. Cognate with Portuguese quão and Spanish cuan.

can m (plural cans)

1. how

Borrowed from Old French chan, from Medieval Latin canus, ultimately from Turkic *qan, contraction of *qaɣan.

can m (plural cans)

1. khan

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “can”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “can”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “can”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “can”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “can”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “can”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

can (plural canes)

1. dog
2. cock, hammer (of a firearm)

• IPA^(key): /kan̪ˠ/, /kanˠ/

From Old Irish canaid, from Proto-Celtic *kaneti (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-. Compare Welsh canu, Latin canō, Ancient Greek καναχέω (kanakhéō), Persian خواندن (xândan).

can (present analytic canann, future analytic canfaidh, verbal noun canadh, past participle canta)

1. to sing
   • 2015 , Will Collins, translated by Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, edited by Maura McHugh, Amhrán na Mara (fiction; paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea (in English), →ISBN, page 1:

     Thuas i dteach an tsolais, faoi réaltaí geala, canann Bronach Amhrán na Mara dá mac Ben atá cúig bliana d'aois.

2. (Ulster) to speak, talk

   Synonyms: labhair, bí ag caint