Result from Foreign Dictionaries (8 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: May \May\ (m[=a]), v. [imp. {Might} (m[imac]t)] [AS. pres. maeg I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G. m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ. moche. [root]103. Cf. {Dismay}, {Main} strength, {Might}. The old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.] An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by expressing: (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener expressed by {can}. [1913 Webster] How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health! --Spenser. [1913 Webster] For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been." --Whittier. [1913 Webster] (b) Liberty; permission; allowance. [1913 Webster] Thou mayst be no longer steward. --Luke xvi. 2. [1913 Webster] (c) Contingency or liability; possibility or probability. [1913 Webster] Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. --Pope. [1913 Webster] (d) Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark. [1913 Webster] How old may Phillis be, you ask. --Prior. [1913 Webster] (e) Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. "May you live happily." --Dryden. [1913 Webster] {May be}, & {It may be}, are used as equivalent to {possibly}, {perhaps}, {maybe}, {by chance}, {peradventure}. See 1st {Maybe}. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Can \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. [1913 Webster] {Canned goods}, a general name for fruit, vegetables, meat, or fish, preserved in hermetically sealed cans. From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Can \Can\, v. t. & i. Note: [The transitive use is obsolete.]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. c[=u][eth]e (for cun[eth]e); p. p. c[=u][eth] (for cun[eth]); akin to OS. Kunnan, D. Kunnen, OHG. chunnan, G. k["o]nnen, 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. [root]45. See {Ken}, {Know}; cf. {Con}, {Cunning}, {Uncouth}.] 1. To know; to understand. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] I can rimes of Robin Hood. --Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] I can no Latin, quod she. --Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] Let the priest in surplice white, That defunctive music can. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The will of Him who all things can. --Milton. [1913 Webster] For what, alas, can these my single arms? --Shak. [1913 Webster] M[ae]c[ae]nas and Agrippa, who can most with C[ae]sar. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer. --Dickens. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Can \Can\ (k[a^]n), an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of {Begin}, sometimes used in old poetry. Note: [See {Gan}.] [1913 Webster] With gentle words he can faile gree. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Can \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. ] [1913 Webster] Fill the cup and fill can, Have a rouse before the morn. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Note: 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. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: can n 1: airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc. [syn: {can}, {tin}, {tin can}] 2: the quantity contained in a can [syn: {can}, {canful}] 3: a buoy with a round bottom and conical top [syn: {can}, {can buoy}] 4: the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: {buttocks}, {nates}, {arse}, {butt}, {backside}, {bum}, {buns}, {can}, {fundament}, {hindquarters}, {hind end}, {keister}, {posterior}, {prat}, {rear}, {rear end}, {rump}, {stern}, {seat}, {tail}, {tail end}, {tooshie}, {tush}, {bottom}, {behind}, {derriere}, {fanny}, {ass}] 5: a plumbing fixture for defecation and urination [syn: {toilet}, {can}, {commode}, {crapper}, {pot}, {potty}, {stool}, {throne}] 6: a room or building equipped with one or more toilets [syn: {toilet}, {lavatory}, {lav}, {can}, {john}, {privy}, {bathroom}] v 1: preserve in a can or tin; "tinned foods are not very tasty" [syn: {can}, {tin}, {put up}] 2: terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" [syn: {displace}, {fire}, {give notice}, {can}, {dismiss}, {give the axe}, {send away}, {sack}, {force out}, {give the sack}, {terminate}] [ant: {employ}, {engage}, {hire}] From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]: CAN Complete Area Networks (SNI) From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]: CAN Controller Area Network [bus] (CAN)