ʃud v.aux. (3rd
sing. should)
past of
SHALL, used esp.: 1 in reported
speech,
esp.
with the reported
element in the 1st
person (I
said I should be
home by evening). °
Cf.
WILL(1),
WOULD,
now more common in
this sense, esp. to
avoid implications of sense 2. 2 a to express a
duty,
obligation, or
likelihood; =
OUGHT(1) (I should tell
you; you should
have been more
careful;
they should have arrived by now). b (in the 1st person) to express a
tentative suggestion (I should like to
say something). 3 a expressing the
conditional mood in the 1st person (cf. WOULD) (I should have been killed if I
had gone). b forming a conditional
protasis or
indefinite clause (if you should see
him; should they
arrive, tell
them where to go). 4 expressing
purpose =
MAY,
MIGHT(1) (in
order that we should
not worry).