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| aux.v. Past tense of will2 1. Used to express desire or intent: She said she would meet us at the corner. 2. Used to express a wish. This sense is archaic (“I would you were so honest a man!”—William Shakespeare) except in contexts with an implicit first person singular subject and followed by a clause beginning with that: Would that it stop snowing! 3. Used after a statement of desire, request, or advice: I wish you would stay. 4. Used to make a polite request: Would you go with me? 5. Used in the main clause of a conditional statement to express a possibility or likelihood: If I had enough money, I would buy a car. We would have gone to the beach, had the weather been good. See Usage Note at if. 6. Used to express presumption or expectation: That would be Steve at the door. 7. Used to indicate uncertainty: He would seem to be getting better. 8. Used to express repeated or habitual action in the past: Every morning we would walk in the garden. |
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