no
♦♦♦ no /n'oʊ/ (noesor no's)
1 [CONVENTION]
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.'
≠ 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.'
≠ 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.
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.'
= right
6 [CONVENTION]
You use no before correcting what you have just said.
I was twenty-two-no, twenty-one.
7 [EXCLAM]
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.'
8 [DET]
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] DET n-sing
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...
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 next year...
Yesterday no fewer than thirty climbers reached the summit...
= not
11 [DET] 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]
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...
...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...
≠ yes
14 [PHRASE] PHR -ing
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...
15
not to take no for an answer: see answer
no doubt: see doubt
no less than: see less
no longer: see long
in no way: see way
there's no way: see way
no way: see wayno claims
also no-claims
[ADJ] ADJ n
A no claims discount or bonus is a reduction in the money that you have to pay for an insurance policy, which you get when you have not made any claims in the previous year.
Motorists could lose their no-claims discount, even if they are not at fault in an accident.♦♦ no one
also no-one
[PRON] usu PRON v
No one means not a single person, or not a single member of a particular group or set.
Everyone wants to be a hero, but no one wants to die...
No one can open mail except the person to whom it has been addressed.
= nobody
1 [CONVENTION]
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.'
≠ 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.'
≠ 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.
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.'
= right
6 [CONVENTION]
You use no before correcting what you have just said.
I was twenty-two-no, twenty-one.
7 [EXCLAM]
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.'
8 [DET]
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] DET n-sing
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...
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 next year...
Yesterday no fewer than thirty climbers reached the summit...
= not
11 [DET] 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]
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...
...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...
≠ yes
14 [PHRASE] PHR -ing
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...
15
not to take no for an answer: see answer
no doubt: see doubt
no less than: see less
no longer: see long
in no way: see way
there's no way: see way
no way: see wayno claims
also no-claims
[ADJ] ADJ n
A no claims discount or bonus is a reduction in the money that you have to pay for an insurance policy, which you get when you have not made any claims in the previous year.
Motorists could lose their no-claims discount, even if they are not at fault in an accident.♦♦ no one
also no-one
[PRON] usu PRON v
No one means not a single person, or not a single member of a particular group or set.
Everyone wants to be a hero, but no one wants to die...
No one can open mail except the person to whom it has been addressed.
= nobody