no

[[t]no͟ʊ[/t]]

♦

noes, no's (plural)

1) CONVENTION (formulae) You use no to give a negative response to a question.

`Any problems?' - `No, I'm O.K.'...

`Haven't you got your driver's licence?' - `No.'

Ant:

yes

2) CONVENTION You use no to say that something that someone has just said is not true.

`We thought you'd emigrated.' - `No, no.'...

`You're getting worse than me.' - `No I'm not.'

Ant:

yes

3) CONVENTION You use no to refuse an offer or a request, or to refuse permission.

`Here, have mine.' - `No, this is fine.'...

`Can you just get the message through to Pete for me?' - `No, no I can't.'...

After all, the worst the boss can do is say no if you ask him.

Ant:

O.K.

4) EXCLAM You use no to indicate that you do not want someone to do something.

No. I forbid it. You cannot...

She put up a hand to stop him. `No. It's not right. We mustn't.'

5) CONVENTION You use no to acknowledge a negative statement or to show that you accept and understand it.

`We're not on the main campus.' - `No.'...

`It's not one of my favourite forms of music.' - `No.'...

`I don't know him, do I?' - `No, you don't.'

Syn:

true, right

6) CONVENTION You use no before correcting what you have just said.

I was twenty-two - no, twenty-one.

7) EXCLAM (feelings) You use no to express shock or disappointment at something you have just been told.

`John phoned to say that his computer wasn't working.' - `Oh God no.'...

`We went with Sarah and the married man that she's currently seeing.' - `Oh no.'

8) DET-NEG You use no to mean not any or not one person or thing.

He had no intention of paying the cash...

No job has more influence on the future of the world...

No letters survive from this early period.

9) DET-NEG: DET n-sing (emphasis) You use no to emphasize that someone or something is not the type of thing mentioned.

He is no singer...

I make it no secret that our worst consultants earn nothing...

Kathryn was no beauty at the best of times.

10) ADV: ADV compar You can use no to make the negative form of a comparative.

It is to start broadcasting no later than the end of 1994...

Yesterday no fewer than thirty climbers reached the summit...

It would be unfair to suggest that he will be no more effective than his predecessors...

He liked the Secretary no better than his assistant.

11) DET-NEG: DET adj n You use no in front of an adjective and noun to make the noun group mean its opposite.

Sometimes a bit of selfishness, if it leads to greater self-knowledge, is no bad thing...

Today's elections are of no great importance in themselves.

12) DET-NEG No is used in notices or instructions to say that a particular activity or thing is forbidden.

The captain turned out the `no smoking' signs...

No talking after lights out.

...a notice saying `No Dogs'.

13) N-COUNT A no is a person who has answered `no' to a question or who has voted against something. No is also used to refer to their answer or vote.

According to the latest opinion polls, the noes have 50 percent, the yeses 35 percent...

French officials say the government has made contingency plans in the event that the no's win.

Ant:

yes

14) PHRASE: PHR -ing (emphasis) If you say there is no doing a particular thing, you mean that it is very difficult or impossible to do that thing.

There is no going back to the life she had...

There is no doubting them now.

15) to not take no for an answer → see answer

no doubt → see doubt

no less → see less

no less than → see less

no longer → see long

in no way → see way

there's no way → see way

no way → see way