can't

Meanings

1. 1
   contraction

   a contraction of cannot, used to express inability or impossibility

   I can't lift the box without help.

2. 2
   contraction

   a contraction of cannot, used to say that something is not permitted

   You can't enter the theater without a ticket.

3. 3
   contraction

   informal: used alone to decline because one is unwilling or unavailable

   I would join you tonight, but I can't.

A contraction of can + not, recorded from the early eighteenth century. The ending -n't continues a reduced form of not, with the apostrophe marking the omitted vowel. Pronunciation differs notably between accents, especially in the vowel of can.

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