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.
This year, even Telluride’s usually self-contained movie bubble couldn’t keep out the existential anxieties surrounding AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
During their first shore leave after nine months at sea, the sailors spoke about long stretches when they couldn’t speak with family at home and the stress of not knowing when the deployment would end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
I, too, couldn’t shake the thought of a meat factory and almost instantly, realized I wanted off the conveyor belt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
"They let me take over for a while going down the straight because, being sight impaired, I couldn't see the bends. "
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
They were all trying to cheer him up, but it couldn't be done.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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.
