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can2

Pronunciation: /kan/
Translate can | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of can

noun

  • 1a cylindrical metal container:a petrol can a can of paint
  • a small steel or aluminium container in which food or drink is hermetically sealed for storage over long periods:a beer can
  • the quantity of food or drink held by a can:he drank two cans of lager
  • 2 (the can) North American informal prison: our friends will get a year or two in the can
  • 3 (the can) North American informal the toilet: she walks in and has to use the can
  • 4 (cans) informal headphones.

verb (cans, canning, canned)

[with object]
  • 1preserve (food) in a can: sardines and anchovies are worth the extra money if canned in olive oil
  • 2North American informal dismiss from a job: he was canned because of a tiff over promotion
  • reject as inadequate:they canned the project

Phrases

can it

North American informal
  • 1stop talking; be quiet:“Can it!” I growled
  • 2stop doing something:I told him to can it, 'cause he was getting to be annoying

a can of worms

a complicated matter likely to prove awkward or embarrassing: to question the traditional model of education opens up too big a can of worms

in the can

informal on tape or film and ready to be broadcast or released: all went well, the film was in the can

Derivatives

canner

noun

Origin:

Old English canne, related to Dutch kan and German Kanne; either of Germanic origin or from late Latin canna

can in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of can in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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