Crossword clues for should
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Should \Should\ (sh[oo^]d), imp. of Shall. [OE. sholde,
shulde, scholde, schulde, AS. scolde, sceolde. See Shall.]
Used as an auxiliary verb, to express a conditional or
contingent act or state, or as a supposition of an actual
fact; also, to express moral obligation (see Shall); e. g.:
they should have come last week; if I should go; I should
think you could go. ``You have done that you should be sorry
for.''
--Shak.
Syn: See Ought.
Shall \Shall\, v. i. & auxiliary. [imp. Should.] [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou, OHG. solan, scolan, pres. scal, sol. imp. scolta, solta, G. sollen, pres. soll, imp. sollte, Icel. skulu, pres. skal, imp. skyldi, SW. skola, pres. skall, imp. skulle, Dan. skulle, pres. skal, imp. skulde, Goth. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skulda, and to AS. scyld guilt, G. schuld guilt, fault, debt, and perhaps to L. scelus crime.] Note: [Shall is defective, having no infinitive, imperative, or participle.]
To owe; to be under obligation for. [Obs.] ``By the faith I shall to God''
--Court of Love.To be obliged; must. [Obs.] ``Me athinketh [I am sorry] that I shall rehearse it her.''
--Chaucer.-
As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, ``the day shall come when . . ., '' since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. ``I shall go'' implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic ``I will go.'' In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, ``Shall you go?'' (answer, ``I shall go''); ``Shall he go?'' i. e., ``Do you require or promise his going?'' (answer, ``He shall go''.) The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as ``You say, or think, you shall go;'' ``He says, or thinks, he shall go.'' After a conditional conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect. It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it whether he will or not. In the early English, and hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf. Will, v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be omitted. ``He to England shall along with you.''
--Shak.Note: Shall and will are often confounded by inaccurate speakers and writers. Say: I shall be glad to see you. Shall I do this? Shall I help you? (not Will I do this?) See Will.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1200, from Old English sceolde, past tense of sceal (see shall). Preserves the original notion of "obligation" that has all but dropped from shall.
Wiktionary
n. A statement of what should be the case as opposed to what is the case. vb. 1 (context auxiliary English) (non-gloss definition Used to form the future tense of the subjunctive mood subjunctive mood.) 2 (context auxiliary English) Be obliged to; have an obligation to; (non-gloss definition: indicates that the subject of the sentence has some obligation to execute the sentence predicate. Or that the speaker is giving some strong advice, but has no authority to enforce.) 3 (context auxiliary English) ought to; (non-gloss definition: speaker's opinion, or advice, that an action is correct, beneficial or desirable.)
Usage examples of "should".
Heaven only know whitherward thou shouldest come, if thou wert to guide thyself now.
Remember the Oracle of Apollo, who pronounced that thou shouldest he married to a dire and fierce Serpent, and many of the Inhabitants hereby, and such as hunt about in the countrey, affirme that thev saw him yesternight returning from pasture and swimming over the River, whereby they doe undoubtedly say, that hee will not pamper thee long with delicate meats, but when the time of delivery shall approach he will devoure both thee and thy child : wherefore advise thy selfe whether thou wilt agree unto us that are carefull of thy safety, and so avoid the perill of death, bee contented to live with thy sisters, or whether thou remaine with the Serpent arid in the end be swallowed into the gulfe of his body.
Yet at least, thou shouldest have taken him upon thy backe, and so brought him from the cruell hands of the theeves : where contrary thou runnest away alone, forsaking thy good Master, thy pastor and conductor.
I have ill pleased, behold now they foreshew their owne destinie: sleepe carelesse, dreame that thou art in the hands of the mercifull, for I will not hurt thee with thy sword or any other weapon: God forbid that I should slay thee as thou slewest my husband, but thy eies shall faile thee, and thou shalt see no more, then that whereof thou dreamest: Thou shalt thinke the death of thine enemie more sweet then thy life: Thou shalt see no light, thou shalt lacke the aide of a leader, thou shalt not have me as thou hopest, thou shalt have no delight of my marriage, thou shalt not die, and yet living thou shalt have no joy, but wander betweene light and darknesse as an unsure Image: thou shalt seeke for the hand that pricked out thine eies, yet shalt thou not know of whom thou shouldest complaine: I will make sacrifice with the bloud of thine eies upon the grave of my husband.
But that thou shouldest truly farther me In every case, as I should farther thee.
Thou slanderest me here in this company And eke discoverest that thou shouldest hide.
For truely me thinketh by thy cheer Thou shouldest knit up well a great mattere.
It is good that thou shouldest do thy will in the season of youth and the days of thy pleasure.
I tell thee that if thou wert to take service with my lord thou shouldest never rue it.
Yea, why shouldest thou not wax in his service, and become his Captain of Captains, which is an office meet for kings?
Heaven only know whitherward thou shouldest come, if thou wert to guide thyself now.
But O my heart, how shouldest thou, so sweet and fair and good, be taken with the love of an evil thing?
I bid thee come with us, and I will be thy warrant that so far thou shalt have no harm: but when thou hast come so far, and hast seen three very fair cities, besides towns and castles and thorps and strange men, and fair merchandize, God forbid that thou shouldest wend further, and so cast away thy young life for a gay-coloured cloud.
End, and gave her that pair of beads, and meant that thou also shouldest go thither?
Her love for thee was so kind that she would have thee happy after the sundering: therefore she was minded that thou shouldest find the damsel, who as I deem loveth thee, and that thou shouldest love her truly.