why's
AmericanUsage
See 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.
"The track was shut and a bit more track was shut and as a parent you're obviously thinking 'where's my child, why's the track shut'," he said.
From BBC • Aug. 24, 2025
But for right now, let's consider these other why's, because he did the same thing he did on the airplane again and again throughout the decades that followed.
From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023
But the havoc that 72 percent statistic created still exists, furthering a mythology of the always-absentee father, and doing none of the work unpacking the why’s and how’s behind the number.
From Washington Post • Nov. 20, 2021
“But ultimately, we’ve got to look at the tape and try to figure out the why’s behind whether you’re successful or unsuccessful.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 15, 2021
“She’s supposed to be guarding the school, why’s she suddenly abandoning her post to come and see Dumbledore when he’s not even here?”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
