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.
Twelve months later, the 27-year-old king of his sport couldn’t be acting more differently.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Saudi nationals couldn’t be kept clear of a large nuclear fuel-making plant in Saudi territory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"Up until this day, I couldn't explain how happy I was when I got it. I used it over and over until I became so confident," Barce said.
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
There were a lot of things I couldn’t do.
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.
