Word.ws English Dictionary

can but hope

can but hope verb: to be unable to do anything (about something) other than hope [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not]; especially with long odds.

Verb

can but hope (third-person singular simple present can but hope, no present participle, simple past could but hope, no past participle)

  1. (UK, dated, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To be unable to do anything (about something) other than hope [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not]; especially with long odds.
    • We can but hope that he returns alive.

Forms of can but hope

third-person singular presentcan but hope
pastcould but hope

Origin of can but hope

Ellipsis of can do nothing but hope or can do naught but hope.

Questions about can but hope

What does can but hope mean?
Can but hope means to be unable to do anything (about something) other than hope [with that (+ clause); or (informal) with clause; or with so or (negative) not]; especially with long odds.
What part of speech is can but hope?
Can but hope is a verb.
What is the past tense of can but hope?
The past tense of can but hope is could but hope.

Words near can but hope in the dictionary

  1. can a duck
  2. can a duck swim
  3. can belto
  4. can buoy
  5. can buoys
  6. can but hope
  7. can deposit
  8. can deposits
  9. can do
  10. can do this all day
  11. can do with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: can but hope (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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