Capable
['keɪpəb(ə)l] or ['kepəbl]
Definition
(adj.) (usually followed by `of') having capacity or ability; 'capable of winning'; 'capable of hard work'; 'capable of walking on two feet' .
(adj.) (followed by `of') having the temperament or inclination for; 'no one believed her capable of murder' .
(adj.) possibly accepting or permitting; 'a passage capable of misinterpretation'; 'open to interpretation'; 'an issue open to question'; 'the time is fixed by the director and players and therefore subject to much variation' .
Typist: Malcolm--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Possessing ability, qualification, or susceptibility; having capacity; of sufficient size or strength; as, a room capable of holding a large number; a castle capable of resisting a long assault.
(a.) Possessing adequate power; qualified; able; fully competent; as, a capable instructor; a capable judge; a mind capable of nice investigations.
(a.) Possessing legal power or capacity; as, a man capable of making a contract, or a will.
(a.) Capacious; large; comprehensive.
Checker: Quincy
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Qualified, suited, fitted, adapted, susceptible.[2]. Able, competent, intelligent, clever, skilful, efficient, ingenious, sagacious, gifted, accomplished.
Editor: Martin
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See ABLE]
Edited by Astor
Definition
adj. having ability power or skill to do: qualified competent.—ns. Capabil′ity Cap′ableness.
Checker: Spenser
Examples
- Is there some one in La Granja capable of this? Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Searchlights have recently been made capable of being seen nearly a hundred miles away. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Such an arrangement of wire is known as a helix or solenoid, and is capable of lifting or pulling larger and more numerous filings and even good-sized pieces of iron, such as tacks. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Secrets in manufactures are capable of being longer kept than secrets in trade. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- You know now what James Barclay was capable of. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He was a great genius, and a noble character, yet hardly capable of feeling or understanding anything external to his own theology. Plato. The Republic.
- The new life, on the other hand, was before all things capable of resisting great changes of temperature. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I could not preach but to the educated; to those who were capable of estimating my composition. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- It seemed to Fred that if Mr. Farebrother had had a beak and talons instead of his very capable tongue, his mode of attack could hardly be more cruel. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I was capable of much; but I have been injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control! Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Naturally, Mr. Hall’s first thought on his return to Chicago was to induce Mr. Duncan to build a larger model, capable of greater speed and greater output. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Only the most powerful electric furnaces are capable of performing this work. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Sherry wine,' returned Mr Riderhood, in the same sharp tone, 'if you're capable of it. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Edison constructed a primitive machine capable of recording and reproducing sounds. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Defoe could not think that God Almighty had made women so glorious, with souls capable of the same accomplishments with men, and all to be only stewards of our houses, cooks, and slaves. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- But there were times even to the end when he was capable of realising what was happening to him in the present, the death that was on him. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- It moved every feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- This model showed itself capable of traveling at high speed on a single rail, rounding sharp curves and even traversing with ease a wire cable hung in the air. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Other shells have been invented carrying a high explosive and capable of penetrating armour plates of great thickness, and exploding after such penetration has taken place. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- But who would have imagined, said he, that Franklin was capable of such a performance; such painting, such force, such fire! Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- I say again, Madame was a very great and a very capable woman. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- But I am not capable--and I add nothing. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- One of Lydgate's gifts was a voice habitually deep and sonorous, yet capable of becoming very low and gentle at the right moment. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Do you imagine that this anaemic youth was capable of so frightful an assault? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- People only do what they want to do--and what they are capable of doing. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- As constructed to-day it is an enormous vessel (see Fig. 173), capable of holding 7,000 or more gallons, and yielding 250 barrels of sugar at a strike. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- She has nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by night, for in my mad fits I was capable of anything. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid and searched. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- What is called inner is simply that which does not connect with others--which is not capable of free and full communication. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
Checker: Spenser