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.
"I just feel like I couldn't have given more this cycle. If I had given less, would it have even equalled more?"
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
I’m almost positive this piece existed; and the fact that I couldn’t find any mention of it in the sad, hollowed-out husk of the 2026 internet offers no proof that it didn’t.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
"I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat for one week," he told Tottenham's website.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The nature of the allegations against Fang couldn’t be determined.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The doctor, I told Karl, thought she couldn’t have eaten properly for weeks, maybe months, before she came in.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
