cans
verb · noun
Form of can , third-person singular of can.
Simple meaning
To know how to.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kanzIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkænz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
third-person singular of canauxiliary verbdefective
To know how to.
third-person singular of canmodal auxiliary verbdefectiveinformal
May; to be permitted or enabled to.
noun
plural of can
A container or vessel, especially for liquids, usually made of metal.
plural of can
Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
plural of can
A sealed metal container, cylindrical or cuboid in form, typically used to store preserved foods.
plural of can
A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can).
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to.
Used this way, cans is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.