MIGHT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Might

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/maɪt/ Listen

verb

May v. (past might) An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by expressing:

(a)

Ability, competency, or possibility; now oftener expressed by can. "How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health!" "For what he (the king) may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible." "For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been.""

(b)

Liberty; permission; allowance. "Thou mayst be no longer steward."

(c)

Contingency or liability; possibility or probability. "Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance."

(d)

Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark. "How old may Phillis be, you ask."

(e)

Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. "May you live happily."

May be, and It may be, are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, maybe, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe.

Might v. Imp. of May.

noun

Might n. Force or power of any kind, whether of body or mind; energy or intensity of purpose, feeling, or action; means or resources to effect an object; strength; force; power; ability; capacity. "What so strong, But wanting rest, will also want of might?" "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

With might and main. See under 2d Main.

See images of 'Might'

Etymology of 'Might'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Might" Quotes from Famous Books

... my shameful beginning, so they told me afterward—long afterward. For I supposed they were my parents—till two years ago. Now shall I tell you all, Euan? And risk losing a friendship you might have given ...

— The Hidden Children • Robert W. Chambers

... orthodox lines of thought; his influence has been trifling outside his own country; he began with Hegel, but "descended at last from Hegel's logical idea to naked sense," and what guidance for life might be involved ...

— The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge • Edited by Rev. James Wood

... open to view, but localities in it might conceal an enemy of some size, reconnaissance is necessary. Where the road is exposed to fire and the view is restricted, a patrol should be sent to examine the country in the direction from which ...

— Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army, 1911 - Corrected to April 15, 1917 (Changes Nos. 1 to 19) • United States War Department

... conceivable that there might exist, in the hands of persons disinclined or disqualified for engaging personally in business, (1) a mass of capital equal to, and even exceeding, this demand. In that case there would be an habitual excess of competition on the part of lenders, and the rate of ...

— Principles Of Political Economy • John Stuart Mill

... found out. I'm glad you've come for me. I'm glad I've got to tell you everything—I did mean to go home next week, but I'm glad it's like this. Because now I know how much you care, and I might never have found that out if I hadn't listened at the door like a mean, disgraceful cat. I ought to be miserable because I've done wrong—but I'm not. I can't be. I'm really ...

— The Incomplete Amorist • E. Nesbit

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