Definitions for Could
kʊd; unstressed kədCould

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. couldverb

   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. couldverb

   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. Eral Karayazici:

   The current view is that Turkey may not be facing heavy sanctions but (rather) measured economic sanctions over the S-400 purchase. This could create negative flows but I do not expect heavy sales.

2. Jean Carlo Hernandez:

   Dilan could have been me. We're facing a government that doesn't want to help young people move ahead even though we're the future.

3. James Stewart:

   Even our most informed clients feel as if anything could happen, they're thinking about getting products from A to B, market access, and staffing up situation rooms for April. Forecasting the outcome of Brexit is a bit like trying to predict a greyhound race, there are no safe bets.

4. Paul Ryan:

   I'm concerned that they've been dragging their feet over at the Justice Department to giving Congress — they could have spared the country a whole bunch of drama if they would have complied with the document requests months ago when they were made in the first place.

5. Wayne Fromm:

   It's prudent to limit its use because, even inadvertently, it could cause a problem, we have to roll with the punches.

Images & Illustrations of Could

Popularity rank by frequency of use