wouldn't en · VERB
Pronunciation
- /ˈwʊdn̩t/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)
- (US) audio
- (UK) audio
- [wʊdⁿn̩t] (US)
- [wʊɾənt] (US)
- /ˈwʊnt/ (Yorkshire)
- [ˈwʊnʔ] (Yorkshire)
- [ˈwʊʔn̩t] (US)
Etymology
Contraction of would + not, equivalent to would + -n't.
Meanings
-
would not (negative auxiliary)
Wouldn't you often have supper on the terrace on Sundays?
She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.
1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| wudn't | alternative, pronunciation-spelling | lexicographic | |
| wunt | Yorkshire, alternative, pronunciation-spelling | lexicographic | |
| wou'dn't | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| wo'n't | alternative, archaic | lexicographic |
Coordinates
mayn't · couldn't · oughtn't · won't · mightn't · can't · shan't · shouldn't