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A colloquial contraction for can not.

The mark ['] used to denote that a word is contracted (as in ne'er for never, can't for can not), and as sign of the possessive, singular and plural; as, a boy's hat, boys' hats. In the latter use it originally marked the omission of the letter e.

result. Also, an occupation or business requiring such knowledge or skill. The fishermen can't employ their art with so much success in so troubled a sea. Addison.

time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation. Hallam. I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a blank. G. Eliot.

To carry through; to succeed in; as, you can't come any tricks here. [Slang] To come it, to succeed in a trick of any sort. [Slang]

r or letters, or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one; as, ne'er for never; can't for can not; don't for do not; it's for it is.

The soft part of bread. Dust unto dust, what must be, must; If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust. Old Song. Crumb brush, a brush for sweeping crumbs from a table. -- To a crum, with great exactness; completely.

One who maneuvers. This charming widow Beaumont is a nanoeuvrer. We can't well make an English word of it. Miss Edgeworth.

To lie or act as a mountaineer; to climb mountains. You can't go mountaineering in a flat country. H. James.

Silent and idle. [Colloq.] Boys can't sit mum-chance always. J. H. Ewing.

To make love to women; to play the male flirt. You can't go philandering after her again. G. Eliot.

feits passed about under the name of raps. Swift. Tie it [her money] up so tight that you can't touch a rap, save with her consent. Mrs. Alexander. Not to care a rap, to care nothing. -- Not worth a rap, worth nothing.

of; to solve or explain; as, to unriddle an enigma or a mystery. Macaulay. And where you can't unriddle, learn to trust. Parnell.