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. Karen Parker:

   Whenever we do studies in this range of children that have such profound differences in functioning, the idea that even in this range of kids that we could still see this relationship, to me, was pretty powerful. It suggests it’s robust.

2. Dane Jakob:

   It could be anti-climactic, there is some 30km of flat between the Col du Grand Colombier and the( last climb to) Mont du Chat.

3. Anthony Fauci:

   The way it happened is that after [President Trump] made that statement [suggesting China could have revealed the discovery of a new coronavirus threeto fourmonths earlier], I told the appropriate people, it doesnt comport, because twoor threemonths earlier would have been September, the next time they sit down with him and talk about what hes going to say, they will say, By the way, Mr. President, be careful about this and dont say that. But I cant jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Lets try and get it corrected for the next time.

4. Dalia Racine:

   (A) man could get on that computer, anonymously, say, 'I'm coming in to go have sex with this child.' He'll fly in on a 3:00 flight, meet the child at 6:00, and be gone on the 8:00, how are we to ever find them? How are we to ever know who they are?

5. Carles Lopez-Penalver:

   These could be third-parties offering services-for-hire, proxies or a politically motivated group.

Images & Illustrations of Could

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