why not

adv, noun — 4 senses

why not

advalso spelled why-not

1

Why is that so? (for a negative statement)

I don't want to go out today. — Why not?

2

Used to state that one has no objection to and approves of a proposal.

Let's have pizza for lunch. — Yeah, why not?

3

Used to introduce a proposal.

Why not try turning the handle in the other direction to see if that opens the window?

Synonyms: why?, how come?, all right, OK, how about, what if

why-not

noun

1

Obsolete A violent and peremptory procedure without any assigned reason; a sudden conclusive happening.

When the church / Was taken with a why-not in the lurch.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
This game […] was like to have been lost with a why-not.1653, John Harington, A Briefe View of the State of the Church:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for why not and why-not.