no
no
/nəʊ/
1 used to give a negative reply or statement
Just say yes or no.
‘Are you ready?’ ‘No, I'm not.’
Sorry, the answer's no.
‘Another drink?’ ‘No, thanks.’
It's about 70—no, I'm wrong—80 kilometres from Rome.
No! Don't touch it! It's hot.
‘It was Tony.’ ‘No, you're wrong. It was Ted.’
‘It's not very good, is it?’ ‘No, you're right, it isn't (= I agree).’
2 used to express shock or surprise at what somebody has said
‘She's had an accident.’ ‘Oh no!’
‘I'm leaving!’ ‘No!’
Idioms
no
/nəʊ/
1 not one; not any; not a
No student is to leave the room.
I have no meetings this morning.
There's no bread left.
No two days are the same.
2 used, for example on notices, to say that something is not allowed
No smoking!
3 used to express the opposite of what is mentioned
She's no fool (= she's intelligent).
It was no easy matter (= it was difficult).
4 there’s no doing something used to say that it is impossible to do something
There's no telling what will happen next.
no 3
/nəʊ/
used before adjectives and adverbs to mean ‘not’
She's feeling no better this morning.
Reply by no later than 21 July.
no 4
/nəʊ/
(plural noes /nəʊz/ /nəʊz/)
1 an answer that shows you do not agree with an idea, a statement, etc.; a person who says ‘no’
Can't you give me a straight yes or no?
When we took a vote there were nine yesses and three noes.
I'll put you down as a no.
2 the noes plural the total number of people voting ‘no’ in a formal debate, for example in a parliament The noes have it (= more people have voted against something than for it).
Word Origin
Old English nō, nā (adverb), from ne ‘not’ + ō, ā ‘ever’. The determiner arose in Middle English (originally before words beginning with any consonant except h-), reduced from non, from Old English nān, from ne ‘not’ + ān ‘one’, of Germanic origin.