Definition of "would" []

• Used to express desire or intent: She said she would meet us at the corner. (auxiliary-verb)
• Used to express a wish: Would that we had gone with you! (auxiliary-verb)
• Used after a statement of desire, request, or advice: I wish you would stay. (auxiliary-verb)
• Used to make a polite request: Would you go with me? (auxiliary-verb)
• 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. (auxiliary-verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And, of course, if some journalist cited an anonymous source for some scandalous bit of information without making any effort to ensure the source was credible, I would think those journalists *would* have an issue."
• "For those who ask opponents of amnesty to try living the tough life in their home country, if every third world country in the world said that and used it as an excuse to come in here illegally and demand rights...that would not be good for the US now..would it?"
• "But I would sure like to know who he * would* endorse."