'd

/d/US[d]US[d̚]

A form of had — Used to form the past perfect tense, expressing an action that took place prior to a reference point that is itself in the past.

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Meanings

verb'd (clitic)
  1. abbreviationcliticcontractionContraction of had, as an auxiliary verb.

    I’d better not.

    4 more examples

    He’d done his best, but it hadn't been enough.

    You’d seen it before anyone else had.

    They baby’d been crying all night.

    p’rhaps you didn’t say the cow was a red Durham; and p’rhaps you didn’t say she’d got a star on her brow

    1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter VI, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC
  2. abbreviationcliticcontractionContraction of had, as a main verb, but not a phrasal verb.

    I'd no reason to doubt him.

    3 more examples

    “He’s a dear little man,” said Cynthia. “I’d no idea you knew him.”

    1920, Agatha Christie, chapter II, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles

    She'd her apron wrapped about her and he took her for a swan.

    1963 Peter, Paul and Mary, "Polly Von"

    She’d two advantages over him: she’d more fire and a complete conviction she was in the right.

    1974, Stanley Middleton, Holiday
  3. abbreviationcliticcontractionContraction of would or should.

    If I knew his name, I'd tell you.

    3 more examples

    I’d like to help, but I have no time.

    John’d prefer not to go out tonight.

    I wish Mom'd let me do that for one week

    1965 January 9, Lou Sullivan, Diary

    Synonyms: 'ld

  4. abbreviationcliticcolloquialcontractionContraction of did.

    y'all'dn't've

    2 more examples

    Hey, where’d everybody go? Why’d they take off?

    Why the hell'd you do that?

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

Contraction of would or had.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

'd. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'d

MLA

“'d.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'d. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “'d,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/'d.

Source: 'd on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.