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can't help
Idioms and Phrases
Also, can't help but or cannot but . Be unable to do otherwise. For example, I can't help thinking that the keys will turn up eventually , or He couldn't help but believe he would pass the entrance exam , or I cannot but applaud his efforts . The first of these phrases, can't help , is always followed by a present participle whereas the others take an infinitive. [c. 1700]Example Sentences
We have little sympathy for its ideological content, yet we canât help but envy how the Right has spent decades building an alternative media sphere â one with many strengths the Left lacks.
The heart wants what it wants, and people canât help what they feel, but the sinister forces at the heart of all horror movies â man, manmade, natural or eldritch â have a dreadful knack for clocking existential malaise and reacting accordingly.
It could also be the new political identity that Amazon canât help but carry, what with Bezos sitting feet away from President Donald Trump during his inauguration.
However, reality canât help but impinge on daily life.
âWho knows how long it stays shut down? Who knows how long the president decides that he liked making all the decisions for the government. You can imagine him saying, âCongress has failed, Congress canât help you.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American HeritageŸ Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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