Definitions for COULD
kʊd; unstressed kədCOULD

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. could(Verb)

   simple past tense of can

   Before I was blind, I could see very well.

   Etymology: From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan ("to be able") (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). The silent 'l' was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would, at which time the 'l' in those words was already also silent (and was sometimes not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).[1]

2. could(Verb)

   conditional of can Used as a past subjunctive. Used to politely ask for permission to do something. Used to politely ask for someone else to do something. Used to show the possibility that something might happen. Used to suggest something.

   I think he could do it if he really wanted to.

   Etymology: From Middle English coude, couthe, cuthe, from Old English cūþe, past indicative and past subjunctive form of cunnan ("to be able") (compare related cūþ, whence English couth). The silent 'l' was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would, at which time the 'l' in those words was already also silent (and was sometimes not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).[1]

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Could

   of Can

   Etymology: [OF. coude. The l was inserted by mistake, under the influence of should and would.]

2. Could

   was, should be, or would be, able, capable, or susceptible. Used as an auxiliary, in the past tense or in the conditional present

   Etymology: [OF. coude. The l was inserted by mistake, under the influence of should and would.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Could

   kood, pa.t. of Can. [M. E. coude, couth—A.S. cúðe for cunðe, was able; l is inserted from the influence of would and should.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COULD' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #62

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COULD' in Written Corpus Frequency: #88

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COULD' in Verbs Frequency: #14

Anagrams for COULD »

1. cloud

How to pronounce COULD?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say COULD in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of COULD in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of COULD in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of COULD in a Sentence

1. Samuel Matunog:

   We could not meet the demand, every day, we are asked if we still have a supply of teachers.

2. Mariann Montagne:

   You could have some weakness this quarter with the average selling price on the iPhone. That wouldn't disturb me.

3. Anuj Somany:

   If a person says through public dais or otherwise that the private organization values its sincere & hardworking employees, then the people should instantly visualize the hidden reason behind his saying so and as how he could get salary raise or rise position-wise and bag increments, promotions and prize.

4. Terry Hanlon:

   We can only get a fraction of what we could sell.

5. Samuel Mehr:

   The study gives credence to the idea that there is some sort of set of governing rules for how human minds produce music worldwide. And that's something we could not really test until we had a lot of data about music from many different cultures.

Images & Illustrations of COULD

Popularity rank by frequency of use