can't but
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"No-one says it on the record because they can't, but fans and sponsors pay wages and this trip is all about revenues," he said.
From BBC • May 30, 2025
"For example, we made a plastic device that uses graphene as a terahertz sensor. Like X-rays, terahertz radiation can pass through objects that light can't, but doesn't damage the body," Professor Ago says.
From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2024
You can't, but you still try anyway because you never want your child to feel slighted.
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2023
Wentz is a high variance quarterback, capable of making throws others can’t but carrying the risk of extreme downside that could manifest in a season, such as 2020, or a game, such as Jacksonville.
From Washington Post • Mar. 11, 2022
Bloom wanted to say, No, don’t tell them that, because they can’t, but he couldn’t say it; he laughed hollowly and could not really think of a proper way to react at all.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
