"cain't" meaning in English

See cain't in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Contraction

IPA: /keɪnt/
Rhymes: -eɪnt Etymology: A variant spelling of can't, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States. Etymology templates: {{m|en|can't}} can't Head templates: {{head|en|contraction|head=}} cain't, {{en-cont}} cain't
  1. (chiefly Southern US) Nonstandard form of can't. Tags: Southern-US, alt-of, contraction, nonstandard Alternative form of: can't
    Sense id: en-cain't-en-contraction-PvW0H-ik Categories (other): Southern US English

Download JSON data for cain't meaning in English (1.4kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "can't"
      },
      "expansion": "can't",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A variant spelling of can't, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "cain't",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cain't",
      "name": "en-cont"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "can't"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Southern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1985, James A. Michener, Texas: A Novel. Reprinted 2014, Random House Publishing Group, page 460",
          "text": "Stands to reason, the Mexican government, they cain’t persuade any real Mexican priests to travel all the way to Texas. Those hanker after the fleshpots of the big city. So the oney priests they can get to work in land s’far away are Irishmen who cain’t make no livin’ in Ireland, and who cain’t speak a word of Spanish neither, if’n you ask me."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nonstandard form of can't."
      ],
      "id": "en-cain't-en-contraction-PvW0H-ik",
      "links": [
        [
          "can't",
          "can't#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Southern US) Nonstandard form of can't."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "alt-of",
        "contraction",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/keɪnt/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪnt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cain't"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "can't"
      },
      "expansion": "can't",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A variant spelling of can't, representing the pronunciation of this word in the southern United States.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "contraction",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "cain't",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cain't",
      "name": "en-cont"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "contraction",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "can't"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English 1-syllable words",
        "English contractions",
        "English non-lemma forms",
        "English nonstandard forms",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪnt",
        "Rhymes:English/eɪnt/1 syllable",
        "Southern US English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1985, James A. Michener, Texas: A Novel. Reprinted 2014, Random House Publishing Group, page 460",
          "text": "Stands to reason, the Mexican government, they cain’t persuade any real Mexican priests to travel all the way to Texas. Those hanker after the fleshpots of the big city. So the oney priests they can get to work in land s’far away are Irishmen who cain’t make no livin’ in Ireland, and who cain’t speak a word of Spanish neither, if’n you ask me."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Nonstandard form of can't."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "can't",
          "can't#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Southern US) Nonstandard form of can't."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "alt-of",
        "contraction",
        "nonstandard"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/keɪnt/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪnt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "cain't"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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