Adjacent Words

Possibly definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

POS'SIBLY, adv. By any power, moral or physical, really existing. Learn all that can possibly be known.
Can we possibly his love desert?
1. Perhaps; without absurdity.
Arbitrary power tends to make a man a bad sovereign, who might possibly have been a good one, had he been invested with authority circumscribed by laws.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adv
1: by chance; "perhaps she will call tomorrow"; "we may possibly run into them at the concert"; "it may peradventure be thought that there never was such a time" [syn: possibly, perchance, perhaps, maybe, mayhap, peradventure]
2: to a degree possible of achievement or by possible means; "they can't possibly get here in time for the funeral?" [ant: impossibly]

Merriam Webster's

adverb Date: 14th century 1. in a possible manner ; by any possibility <that's all she could possibly do> 2. by merest chance ; perhaps <possibly he will recover> 3. it is possible or imaginable ; conceivably <a political libel which may possibly damage me — G. B. Shaw>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. 1 perhaps. 2 in accordance with possibility (cannot possibly refuse).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Possibly Pos"si*bly, adv. In a possible manner; by possible means; especially, by extreme, remote, or improbable intervention, change, or exercise of power; by a chance; perhaps; as, possibly he may recover. Can we . . . possibly his love desert? --Milton. When possibly I can, I will return. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use possibly to indicate that you are not sure whether something is true or might happen. Exercise will not only lower blood pressure but possibly protect against heart attacks... They were smartly but casually dressed; possibly students... Do you think that he could possibly be right? ADV: ADV with cl/group, ADV with v [vagueness] 2. You use possibly to emphasize that you are surprised, puzzled, or shocked by something that you have seen or heard. It was the most unexpected piece of news one could possibly imagine... ADV: ADV before v [emphasis] 3. You use possibly to emphasize that someone has tried their hardest to do something, or has done it as well as they can. They've done everything they can possibly think of... ADV: ADV before v [emphasis] 4. You use possibly to emphasize that something definitely cannot happen or definitely cannot be done. No I really can't possibly answer that! ADV: with brd-neg, ADV before v [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. Perhaps, perchance, peradventure, mayhap, haply, maybe, it may be, as luck may have it.