POSSIBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does possible mean? 

• POSSIBLE (noun)
  The noun POSSIBLE has 2 senses:

1. something that can be done

2. an applicant who might be suitable

  Familiarity information: POSSIBLE used as a noun is rare.

• POSSIBLE (adjective)
  The adjective POSSIBLE has 2 senses:

1. capable of happening or existing

2. existing in possibility

  Familiarity information: POSSIBLE used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• POSSIBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that can be done

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

politics is the art of the possible

Hypernyms ("possible" is a kind of...):

opening; possibility; possible action (a possible alternative)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An applicant who might be suitable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("possible" is a kind of...):

applicant; applier (a person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission)

• POSSIBLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Capable of happening or existing

Context example:

warned of possible consequences

Similar:

accomplishable; achievable; doable; manageable; realizable (capable of existing or taking place or proving true; possible to do)

affirmable; assertable (capable of being affirmed or asserted)

attainable; come-at-able (capable of being attained or accomplished)

contingent (possible but not certain to occur)

executable; feasible; practicable; viable; workable (capable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are)

mathematical (statistically possible though highly improbable)

Also:

likely (has a good chance of being the case or of coming about)

practical (concerned with actual use or practice)

realistic (aware or expressing awareness of things as they really are)

thinkable (capable of being conceived or imagined or considered)

Attribute:

possibility; possibleness (capability of existing or happening or being true)

Antonym:

impossible (not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with)

Derivation:

possibility; possibleness (capability of existing or happening or being true)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Existing in possibility

Synonyms:

possible; potential

Context example:

possible uses of nuclear power

Similar:

latent (potentially existing but not presently evident or realized)

Attribute:

potency; potential; potentiality (the inherent capacity for coming into being)

Derivation:

possibility (a possible alternative)

possibility (a future prospect or potential)

possibleness (capability of existing or happening or being true)

 Context examples 

We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into the bright morning sunshine.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now your eyes will be opened, and you see each project in their largest possible manifestation.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Then send for them all to come here as soon as possible, and let each one bring a long piece of string.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Oh! but they ought to call upon you as soon as possible.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

You must write to me, Catherine, she cried; you must let me hear from you as soon as possible.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Any type of recombination occuring within somatic cells and involving possible exchange and frequent loss of segments of DNA by either homologous or nonhomologous recombination of broken DNA strands.

(Mitotic Recombination, NCI Thesaurus)

Starting treatment as early as possible is important.

(Autism, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Most, however, need language therapy as soon as possible.

(Aphasia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Despite the atypical features and possible course, there is debate on whether to consider this a neoplasm.

(Atypical Endometrial Hyperplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

A wide range of architectures are possible, but psammoma body formation is classical.

(Mouse Meningioma, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)