Standard Lemma guide

couldn't

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/ˈkʊd.n̩t/
Yorkshire: [ˈkʊnʔ]
homophone: cunt
US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET: K UH1 D AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2: K UH1 D AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

verb

Meaning 1

could not (negative auxiliary)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From could + n’t.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

No separate word forms were provided.

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: none provided

Spelling and sound

Hyphenation and homophones

Homophones: cunt

Semantic map

Other relationships

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

Sources

Where this information comes from

Wiktionary data was expanded into structured fields by Wiktextract. Matching Princeton WordNet definitions and semantic relationships, plus CMUdict ARPABET pronunciations, are merged into this same canonical word page.

Wiktionary text is credited to English Wiktionary contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The source entry and revision history URL, legal text, and the complete attribution and reuse instructions are collected on the site-wide Sources, credits & licenses page.

Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

couldn't in complete knowledge articles