A dialectal or obsolete variant of can.To try; attempt (to do a thing).To try; examine; test; taste.To peruse carefully and attentively; study or pore over; learn: as, to con a lesson: often with over.Nautical: To direct (the man at the helm of a vessel) how to steer.To give orders for the steering of: as, to con a ship.n. Naut.: The position taken by the person who cons or directs the steering of a vessel.n. The act of conning.n. A variant of can, for gan, preterit of gin, begin. See can, gin.n. An abbreviation of the Latin contra, against (see contra), especially common in the phrase pro and con (Latin pro et contra), for and against, in favor of and opposed to: sometimes used as a noun, with a plural, the pros and cons, the arguments, or arguers, or voters, for and against a proposition.n. The most frequent form of com-.Short for ‘confidence’: as a con man; a con game. See confidence man, confidence game (under confidence).An abbreviation of Consul[lowercase] of conclusion.