can do with

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English

Verb

can do with (third-person singular simple present can do with, no present participle, simple past could do with, no past participle)

  1. (transitive, usually with could) To need; to want; to be in a position to benefit from.
    • 1996 March, D. William Shunn, “Celestial Mechanics.”, in Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 90, number 3, page 109:
      His hair was thinning and slicked back, and he could have done with a good shave.
    • 1999 July, Jim McCausland, “Paths of discovery”, in Sunset, volume 203, number 1, page 57:
      A garden can do with a little mystery, which serpentine paths provide.
    • 2000 Spring, Jervis Anderson, “England in Jamaica.”, in American Scholar, volume 69, number 2, page 15:
      In fact, while balking at the cruel burden he had imposed on me, I thought that his mind could do with some improvement
    • 2000 May 17, John Huges, “How do we find what's true?”, in Christian Science Monitor:
      Journalism today could do with a little more attention to principle, a little more concern about ethics.

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