Word.ws English Dictionary

in the can

in the can prepositional phrase: having been shot and stored in a film can, or at the equivalent stage for a digital take.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Having been shot and stored in a film can, or at the equivalent stage for a digital take.
  2. (idiomatic) At a late stage of completion, generally when the actual work is done and some finalizing process must be undertaken.

Questions about in the can

What does in the can mean?
In the can means having been shot and stored in a film can, or at the equivalent stage for a digital take.
What part of speech is in the can?
In the can is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the can in the dictionary

  1. in the books
  2. in the bottom of the bag
  3. in the bucket
  4. in the buff
  5. in the business of
  6. in the can
  7. in the cards
  8. in the clear
  9. in the closet
  10. in the clouds
  11. in the club

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the can (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-in the can.ogg.

Cite this entry: “in the can.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_the_can. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.