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Can vs Show - What's the difference?

can | show |

As nouns the difference between can and show

is that can is song while show is show, spectacle.

As a verb can

is (lb).

can

English

(wikipedia can)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m) (first and third person singular of , Danish (m). More at canny, cunning.

Verb

  • To know how to; to be able to.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
  • May; to be permitted or enabled to.
  • To be possible, usually with be .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.
  • To know.
  • * ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
  • I can rimes of Robin Hood.
  • * ca.1360-1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman)
  • I can no Latin, quod she.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Let the priest in surplice white, / That defunctive music can .
    Usage notes
    * For missing forms, substitute inflected forms of be able to , as: ** I might be able to go. ** I was able to go yesterday. ** I have been able to go, since I was seven. ** I had been able to go before. ** I will be able to go tomorrow. * The word could also suffices in many tenses. "I would be able to go" is equivalent to "I could go", and "I was unable to go" can be rendered "I could not go". (Unless there is a clear indication otherwise, "could verb''" means "would be able to ''verb''", but "could not ''verb''" means "was/were unable to ''verb ".) * The present tense negative can not'' is often contracted to ''cannot'' or ''can't . * The use of can'' in asking permission sometimes is criticized as being impolite or incorrect by those who favour the more formal alternative ''"may I...?" . * Can'' is sometimes used rhetorically to issue a command, placing the command in the form of a request. For instance, ''"Can you hand me that pen?"'' as a polite substitution for ''"Hand me that pen." * Some US dialects that glottalize the final /t/ in can't'' ( even when stressed.
    Synonyms
    * be able to * may
    Antonyms
    * cannot * can’t
    See also
    *

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) canne, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A more or less cylindrical vessel for liquids, usually of steel or aluminium.
  • A container used to carry and dispense water for plants (a watering can ).
  • A tin-plate canister, often cylindrical, for preserved foods such as fruit, meat, or fish.
  • (US, slang) toilet, bathroom.
  • (US, slang) buttocks.
  • (slang) jail or prison.
  • (slang) headphones.
  • (obsolete) A drinking cup.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • * Tennyson
  • Fill the cup and fill the can , / Have a rouse before the morn.
    Synonyms
    * (cylindrical metal container) tin
    Derived terms
    * beer can * can opener * carry the can * garbage can * kick at the can * kick the can / kick-the-can * kick the can down the road * trash can

    Verb

    (cann)
  • To preserve, by heating and sealing in a can or jar.
  • They spent August canning fruit and vegetables.
  • to discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
  • He canned the whole project because he thought it would fail.
  • To shut up.
  • Can your gob.
  • (US, euphemistic) To fire or dismiss an employee.
  • The boss canned him for speaking out.

    Statistics

    *

    show

    English

    Alternative forms

    * shew (archaic)

    Verb

  • To display, to have somebody see (something).
  • * , chapter=22
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.}}
  • To bestow; to confer.
  • to show''' mercy; to '''show favour
  • To indicate (a fact) to be true; to demonstrate.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=John T. Jost, volume=100, issue=2, page=162, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record. With this biological framework in place, Corning endeavors to show that the capitalist system as currently practiced in the United States and elsewhere is manifestly unfair.}}
  • To guide or escort.
  • To be visible, to be seen.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Just such she shows before a rising storm.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • All round a hedge upshoots, and shows / At distance like a little wood.
  • *
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage='Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed .}}
  • (informal) To put in an appearance; show up.
  • (informal) To have an enlarged belly and thus be recognizable as pregnant.
  • (racing) To finish third, especially of horses or dogs.
  • (obsolete) To have a certain appearance, such as well or ill, fit or unfit; to become or suit; to appear.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • My lord of York, it better showed with you.

    Usage notes

    In the past, shew'' was used as a past tense form and ''shewed as a past participle of this verb; both forms are now archaic.

    Synonyms

    * (display) display, indicate, point out, reveal, exhibit * (indicate a fact to be true) demonstrate, prove * (put in an appearance) arrive, show up

    Antonyms

    * (display) conceal, cover up, hide * (indicate a fact to be true) disprove, refute

    Derived terms

    * show a clean pair of heels * show ankle * * show off * show one's true colors * show one's true stripes * show somebody the door * show up

    See also

    * showcase * showdown

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A play, dance, or other entertainment.
  • * , chapter=4
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show . He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.}}
  • (countable) An exhibition of items.
  • (countable) A demonstration.
  • (countable) A broadcast program/programme.
  • (countable) A movie.
  • (uncountable) Mere display or pomp with no substance.
  • * Young
  • I envy none their pageantry and show .
  • A project or presentation.
  • Let's get on with the show'''.   Let's get this '''show''' on the road.   They went on an international road '''show''' to sell the shares to investors.   It was Apple's usual dog and pony ' show .
  • The major leagues.
  • (mining, obsolete) A pale blue flame at the top of a candle flame, indicating the presence of firedamp.
  • (Raymond)
  • (obsolete) Semblance; likeness; appearance.
  • * Bible, Luke xx. 46. 47
  • Beware of the scribes,which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers.
  • * (John Milton)
  • He through the midst unmarked, / In show plebeian angel militant / Of lowest order, passed.
  • (medicine) A discharge, from the vagina, of mucus streaked with blood, occurring a short time before labor.
  • Synonyms

    * (exhibition) exhibition, exposition * (demonstration) demonstration, illustration, proof * program(me) * (mere display with no substance) , front, superficiality * (baseball) big leagues

    Derived terms

    * showbusiness, showbiz * show business * showlike * showy * talk show

    See also

    * showman * showpiece * show-stopper * show-stopping

    Statistics

    *