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should - What does it mean?

Definition of 'should'

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Verb

(head)
  • (auxiliary)
    • If I should be late, go without me.
    Should you need extra blankets, you will find them in the closet.
  • * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
    • It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to.
  • (auxiliary) Be obliged to; have an obligation to; ought to;
    • You should brush your teeth every day.
    What do I think? What should I think?
  • * {{quote-news
    • | date = 21 August 2012 | first = Ed | last = Pilkington | title = Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die? | newspaper = The Guardian | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/21/death-penalty-trial-reggie-clemons?newsfeed=true | page = | passage = Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a "special master", who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die? }}
  • * '>citation
  • (auxiliary) Will likely (become or do something);
    • You should be warm enough with that coat.
  • (modern) A variant of would.
  • * 1817 , Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey?
    • I should like to dine with him. I dare say he gives famous dinners.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
    • "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."
  • * 1900 , L. Frank Baum , The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23
    • "Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert," replied Glinda. "If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country." "But then I should not have had my wonderful brains!" cried the Scarecrow. "I might have passed my whole life in the farmer's cornfield."

    Usage notes

    * Should'' has, as its most common meaning in modern English, the sense ''ought'' as in ''I should go, but I don't see how I can''. However, the older sense as the subjunctive of the future indicative auxiliary, ''shall'', is often used with ''I'' or ''we'' to indicate a more polite form than ''would'': ''I should like to go, but I can't''. In much speech and writing, ''should'' has been replaced by ''would'' In contexts of this kind, but it remains in conditional subjunctives: ''should'' (never ''would'') ''I go, I should wear my new dress . * (obligation) Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb (must), which indicates that the subject is required to execute the predicate. * (likely) Contrast with stronger auxiliary verb (must), which indicates that the subject certainly will execute the predicate. * See the usage notes at (shall).

    Synonyms

    * (obligation) ought

    Antonyms

    * (obligation) shouldn't

    Related terms

    * shoulde (archaic spelling of should) * shouldst (archaic second-person singular of should) * should've (contraction of future perfect subjunctive auxiliary phrase should have )

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A statement of what should be the case as opposed to what is the case.
  • * {{quote-book|year=2003|title=Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy|author=Robert L. Leahy
    • |passage=However, we can address maladaptive shoulds by examining the differences between prior events, causes, proximate causes, and moral responsibility. citation

    See also

    * precatory * * (projectlink) * (projectlink) * (projectlink)

    Statistics

    * 100 English basic words English auxiliary verb forms English defective verbs English irregular simple past forms English verb simple past forms English verb forms using redundant wikisyntax 1000 English basic words English modal verbs

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