DAILY UPDATED VOCABULARY WITH PICTURES. CAN.

• can past tense and past participle canned, present participle canning[transitive] American English
• 1 to preserve food by putting it into a metal container from which all the air is removed [= tin BrE; ↪ canned]
• 2 informal to dismiss someone from a job [= sack]
• 3

  can it!

  spoken used to tell someone to stop talking or making a noise

• can [countable]
• 1 a metal container in which food or drink is preserved without air:
• a Coke can
• can of
• All we've got is a couple of cans of soup.
• 2 a special metal container that keeps the liquid inside it under pressure. The liquid is released as a spray when you press the button
• can of
• a can of hairspray
• 3 especially American English a metal container with a lid that can be removed, used for holding liquid:
• Two large cans of paint ought to be enough.
• 4

  can of worms

   a very complicated situation that causes a lot of problems when you start to deal with it:
• I just don't know what to do - every solution I can think of would justopen up a whole new can of worms.
• 5

  in the can

  informal a film that is in the can is complete and ready to be shown
• 6

  the can

  informal
• a) a prison
• b) American English a toilet

• ➔ carry the can

  at carry1 (26)

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.