couldn't

verb

couldn't

verb

/ˈkʊd.n̩t/ · Yorkshire [ˈkʊnʔ]

Etymology From could + n’t.

1

could not (negative auxiliary)

You couldn’t lend me a lighter, could you?
‘Would you like another drink?’ ‘No thanks, I couldn’t.’

Coordinate terms: can't, mayn't, mightn't, oughtn't, shan't, shouldn't, won't, wouldn't

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.