expresses possibility; " I could do it by myself"

Was, should be, or would be, able, capable, or susceptible. Used as an auxiliary, in the past tense or in the conditional present.

Imp. Of CAN, v.

The past tense of can.

Past tense of can; had sufficient power, moral or physical.

No one could help it. – Father Stafford by Anthony Hope

There was nothing she could do, nothing he could do. – The Abandoned Room by Wadsworth Camp

How could he do it, how could he? – Two Boys and a Fortune by Matthew White, Jr.

What did- could you have said?" – Betty Zane by Zane Grey

I wonder if I could see him. – The Major by Ralph Connor

This could not be." – A Yankee Flier in Italy by Rutherford G. Montgomery

There was nothing she could do to help him- nothing. – The Gadfly by E. L. Voynich

How could it have been true? – Equality by Edward Bellamy

Who could do so? – Recollections of Old Liverpool by A Nonagenarian

Macleod could do this, and Macleod could do that; it was all Macleod, and Macleod, and Macleod. – Macleod of Dare by William Black

That's what he could do. – Leaves in the Wind by A. G. Gardiner

I could not say yes. – The Allen House or Twenty Years Ago and Now by T. S. Arthur

How could I do it? – Greener Than You Think by Ward Moore

That was where he could have been. – Mortmain by Arthur Cheny Train

" Yes, if I could," Chubbins replied. – Policeman Bluejay by L. Frank Baum

I have never done it, but how could I? – Masters of the Wheat-Lands by Harold Bindloss

I could see that. – The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

But nothing could I see. – The Coming of the King by James Hocking

Could it be Corentin? – The Chouans by Honore de Balzac