/wəd/, /əd/, /(w)ʊ(l)d/
OriginFrom Old English wolde, past tense of willan, predecessor of will.
The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in should and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).
- auxiliaryUsed to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time.
“On my first day at University, I met the woman who would become my wife.”
“Hi! I thought I'd come over and introduce myself. My name’s Chema.”
“I'm really flattered you would call your daughter after me.”
- auxiliaryUsed to, did repeatedly, habitually; indicates an action that happened several times in the past (cannot describe continuous states, as in I used to live in London)
“When we were younger, we would cycle out to the beach most summer Sundays.”
“No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly ”
“When we were kids we would sit by the radio with a tape recorder on a Sunday, listening out for the chart songs we wanted to have.”
- auxiliaryWas or were determined to; indicating someone's insistence upon doing something.
“I asked her to stay in with me, but she would go out.”
“Then he took to breeding silk-worms, which he would bring in two or three times a day, in little paper boxes, to show the old lady[…].”
- archaic, auxiliaryWanted to.
“And thenne at laste a-nother sayd that he wolde have eyren. Then the good wyf sayd that she understod hym wel.”
“The Greeks, especially those who would be thought adepts in mystic theology, ran after fantastic allegories […].”
- archaic, auxiliaryUsed with ellipsis of the infinitive verb, or postponement to a relative clause, in various senses.
“At which time he told me, he would to London that week, and so to Oxford.”
“He sat as one astonish'd, a good-while, looking at me, without speaking a Word, till I came quite up to him, kneel'd on one Knee to him, and almost whether he would or no, kiss'd his Hand[…].”
“'I thank thee, oh Ayesha,' I replied, with as much dignity as I could command, 'but if there be such a place as thou dost describe, and if in this strange place there may be found a fiery virtue that ”
- auxiliary, obsoleteWished, desired (something).
- auxiliaryUsed as the auxiliary of the simple conditional modality, indicating a state or action that is conditional on another.
“If I won the lottery, I would give half the money to charity.”
“I'd never do anything that went against my conscience.”
“If I could fly, I would away to those realms of light and warmth – far, far away in the southern clime[…].”
- auxiliaryWithout explicit condition, or with loose or vague implied condition, indicating a hypothetical or imagined state or action.
“I would love to come and visit.”
“Look at that yummy cake! I would eat that all up!”
“Most other people would do it differently, helping anybody who was in trouble, whether they knew them or not.”
- auxiliarySuggesting conditionality or potentiality in order to express a sense of politeness, tentativeness, indirectness, hesitancy, uncertainty, etc.
“I would ask you all to sit down.”
“I would imagine that they have already left.”
“I would say/think we would/might do better to catch the earlier flight.”
- auxiliaryUsed to express what the speaker would do in another person's situation, as a means of giving a suggestion or recommendation.
“It's disgraceful the way that they've treated you. I would write and complain.”
- auxiliaryUsed to express the speaker's belief or assumption.
“She looked as if she would be sick.”
“He's very security-conscious, so he would have remembered to lock the door.”
“They would be arriving in London round about now.”
- auxiliaryCould naturally be expected to (given the situation, the tendencies of someone's character etc.).
“Sorry, officer, I wouldn't know anything about the crime, since I was nowhere near the scene.”
“The free access model, the media magnate said last week, was "malfunctioning". Well he would, wouldn't he?”
- auxiliaryUsed interrogatively to express a polite request; are (you) willing to …?
“Would you pass the salt, please?”
“Just reach me down that file, would you.”
- archaic, auxiliaryMight wish (+ verb in past subjunctive); often used in the first person (with or without that) in the sense of "if only".
“PARIS
My lord, I would that Thursday were tomorrow.”
“KING HENRY
Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz?
WESTMORELAND
God’s will, my liege, would you and I alone,
Without more help, could fight this royal battle!”
“I presently wished, would that I had been in their clothes! would that I had been born Peter! would that I had been born John!”
- archaic, auxiliaryMight desire; wish (something).
“What dost thou professe? What would’st thou with vs?”
- Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.
“When the golf ball is there, the whole self-interference package — the hopes, worries, and fears; the thoughts on how-to and how-not-to; the woulds, the coulds, and the shoulds — is there too.”
“Shushona you must learn to rightfully prioritize all the woulds, shoulds and coulds of your life.”
- abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, idiomatic, slangEllipsis of I would, used to denote that the speaker finds another person sexually attractive.
Formswou'd(alternative, obsolete) · woulds(plural)