CAN

an obs. form of began, imp. & p. p. of Begin, sometimes used in old poetry.

A drinking cup; a vessel for holding liquids. [Shak. ] Fill the cup and fill can, Have a rouse before the morn. Tennyson.

A vessel or case of tinned iron or of sheet metal, of various forms, but usually cylindrical; as, a can of tomatoes; an oil can; a milk can.

To preserve by putting in sealed cans [U. S.] "Canned meats" W. D. Howells. Canned goods, a general name for fruit, vegetables, meat, or fish, preserved in hermetically sealed cans.

To know; to understand. [Obs.] I can rimes of Rodin Hood. Piers Plowman. I can no Latin, quod she. Piers Plowman. Let the priest in surplice white, That defunctive music can. Shak.

To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] The will of Him who all things can. Milton. For what, alas, can these my single arms Shak. Mæcænas and Agrippa, who can most with Cæsar. Beau. & Fl.

To be able; -- followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to.