couldn't
Americancontraction
Usage
See care, contraction.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Crabtree couldn’t find an alternative and found others complaining of similar experiences, she decided to make her own.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Ben Sasse: Because I was crappy enough at sports that they had let me play and I couldn’t play for the University of Nebraska.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
I couldn’t have asked for a better human being to be at the Old Vic.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Speaking last year, Lili Reinhart said she couldn't "confirm or deny the real identity of Mr Fantasy".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Between the other bussers side-eyeing my sudden elevated status and the sad-faced out-of-towners asking if the rumor about Fireball was true, I couldn’t hear a word of what Sadie and Max had to say.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
