Word.ws English Dictionary

couldn't wait

couldn't wait is the simple past of can't wait.

Meaning of can't wait

Verb

can't wait (third-person singular simple present can't wait, no present participle, simple past couldn't wait, no past participle)

  1. (idiomatic, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To eagerly anticipate; to find it hard to wait for a forthcoming pleasurable event.
    • I can't wait for that party on Friday.
  2. (no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To need to be attended to right away.
    • I'm afraid this can't wait; it has to be done by Thursday.

Questions about couldn't wait

What is couldn't wait the simple past of?
Couldn't wait is the simple past of can't wait.

Words near couldn't wait in the dictionary

  1. couldn't run a bath
  2. couldn't seem
  3. couldn't stand
  4. couldn't stand the sight of
  5. couldn't stop a pig in a passage
  6. couldn't wait
  7. couldn't've
  8. couldn't-care-less
  9. couldn've
  10. couldna
  11. couldnae

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: couldn't wait (page history and authors); can't wait (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “couldn't wait.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/couldn%27t_wait. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.