wasn't

See also: wasnt

English

Alternative forms

wazn't (eye dialect)
wadn't, wudn't, wa'n't (pronunciation respellings, eye dialect)

Etymology

From was +‎ -n't

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒzənt/, [ˈwɒzn̩(ʔ)], (colloquial) IPA^(key): [ˈwɒn(ʔ)]
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈwʌzənt/, [ˈwʌzn̩(t)] (colloquial, dialectal) IPA^(key): [ˈwʌdn̩(t)]
Audio (US) (file)

Verb

wasn't

was not (negative auxiliary[1])
- 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
  Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …

See also

References

Arnold M. Zwicky and Geoffrey K. Pullum, Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n’t, Language 59 (3), 1983, pp. 502-513

Anagrams

tawns, wanst, wants

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