Can (?), v. t.
& i. [The transitive use is obsolete.]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. cūðe (for cunðe); p. p. cūð (for cunð); akin to OS. Kunnan, D. Kunnen, OHG. chunnan, G. können, 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. √45. See Ken, Know; cf. Con, Cunning, Uncouth.] 1. To know; to understand. [Obs.]
I can rimes of Rodin Hood.
Piers Plowman.
I can no Latin, quod she.
Piers Plowman.
Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can.
Shak.
2. To be able to do; to have power or
influence. [Obs.]
The will of Him who all
things can.
Milton.
For what, alas, can these my single arms?
Shak.
Mæcænas and
Agrippa, who can most with Cæsar.
Beau. &
Fl.
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.
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.
Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer.
Dickens.
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.
Canned goods, a general name for fruit, vegetables, meat, or fish,
preserved in hermetically
sealed cans.
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. ]
Fill the cup and fill can,
Have a rouse
before the morn.
Tennyson.
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.
&fist;
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.
Can (?), an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry. [See Gan.]
With gentle
words he can faile gree.
Spenser.
Hear it pronounced