could
/kəd/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Early/kuːld/
could verb: used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact). Also the simple past of can.
Verb
could
- Used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact).
- "If I'd had a paddle I could've spun by that dashed root," Meekins said, feeling some apology due for the mishap. "When I first climbed out of that fool creek I thought my arm had got twisted off, but I guess it ain't."1921, William Alexander Fraser, Red Meekins, George H. Doran Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 32
- I think he could do it if he really wanted to.
- Used to politely ask for permission to do something.
- Could I borrow your coat?
- Used to politely ask for someone else to do something.
- Could you proofread this email?
- I wonder, you couldn't loan me the money, could you?
- Used to show the possibility that something might happen.
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort...2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55
- We could rearrange the time if you like.
- Used to suggest something.
- You could try adding more salt to the soup.
Noun
could (plural coulds)
- Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.
- When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package — the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how-to and how-not-to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds — is there too.1996, Fred Shoemaker, Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible, page 88
- Shushona you must learn to rightfully prioritize all the woulds, shoulds and coulds of your life.2010, Shushona Novos, The Personal Universal: A Guidebook for Spiritual Evolution, page 395
Also used as
could is also the simple past of can.
could is also the past participle of can.
Examples of could in a sentence
- I'd have thought you could have done the dishes, at least.
- Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema.2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
Forms of could
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | coulde |
| second-person singular alternative (archaic) | couldst |
| second-person singular alternative (archaic) | couldest |
| second-person singular alternative (archaic) | could'st |
| alternative form (obsolete) | coud |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cou'd |
| Noun | |
| plural | coulds |
Origin of could
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). Cognate with German konnte, Swedish kunde. The -l- in the spelling was added in the early 16th century by analogy with should and would; this analogy formerly affected the pronunciation as well and was probably assisted by the tendency for /l/ to be lost in those words (and so not written, leading to shudd, wode, etc).
Words formed from could
Phrases with could
- could of
- might could
- could do with
- could but hope
- could not help
- could care fewer
- could go all day
- could have sworn
- could not help but
- could not away with
- could not care less
- I could eat a brick
54 more phrasesFewer phrases
- I could eat a horse
- if looks could kill
- could have done with
- could have fooled me
- could have cared less
- could hear a pin drop
- floor one could eat off
- floors one could eat off
- only a mother could love
- you could have fooled me
- could not have cared less
- if these walls could talk
- one could hear a pin drop
- as far as the eye could see
- could I see the menu, please
- only Nixon could go to China
- faces only a mother could love
- one could do it in one's sleep
- bit off more than one could chew
- claret would be port if it could
- cut off more than one could chew
- if pigs had wings, they could fly
- face that only a mother could love
- so quiet one could hear a pin drop
- bitten off more than one could chew
- could have, would have, should have
- faces that only a mother could love
- learnt to walk before one could run
- learned to walk before one could run
- as fast as one's legs could carry one
- knew how to walk before one could run
- known how to walk before one could run
- trust someone as far as one could spit
- nothing could be farther from the truth
- trusts someone as far as one could spit
- could fit on the back of a postage stamp
- trusted someone as far as one could spit
- trusting someone as far as one could spit
- you could cut the atmosphere with a knife
- could eat the arse out of a low flying duck
- could eat the crutch from a low flying duck
- trust someone as far as one could throw them
- could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck
- trusts someone as far as one could throw them
- trusted someone as far as one could throw them
- could be written on the back of a postage stamp
- trusting someone as far as one could throw them
- if we had ham we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs
- trust someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail
- trusts someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail
- trusted someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail
- trusting someone as far as one could fling a bull by the tail
- if we had some ham we could have some ham and eggs, if we had some eggs
- as the mountain could not wait upon Mahomet, Mahomet would go to the mountain
Words that rhyme with could
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about could
- What does could mean?
- Could means used as a past subjunctive (contrary to fact).
- How do you use could in a sentence?
- I'd have thought you could have done the dishes, at least.
- What part of speech is could?
- Could can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce could?
- Could is pronounced /kəd/.
Words near could in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: could (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-could (unstressed).wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Pvanp7-could.wav, en-us-could.ogg.
Cite this entry: “could.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/could. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.