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couldn't

American

[kood-nt] / ˈkʊd nt /

contraction of could not.

couldn't British

/ ˈkʊdənt /

contraction

could not

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

couldn't Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing couldn't

can't
hurt a flea, couldn't

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.

Some 7.2 million people said in the March employment report that they wanted a job but couldn’t find one.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

What passengers and crew couldn’t see, according to the World Health Organization, is that the first infected person probably contracted the virus before boarding.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

I did get it because they couldn’t not give it to me.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

His symptoms quickly developed and he says he was "drenched in sweat and couldn't breathe".

From BBC • May 7, 2026

Sarah couldn’t be more than five foot seven and was approaching the age where she would start getting her plate first at gatherings.

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