no

plural nos. the written abbreviation of number I 1 adverb

1 spoken used to give a negative reply to a question, offer, or request: “Are you Italian?” “No, I'm Spanish.” | “Do you want any more?” “No thanks.” | “Could you help me write this?” “No, sorry, I haven't got time at the moment.” | say no: Would you be terribly offended if I said no? | the answer's no: If she asks to borrow any money, the answer's no!

—opposite yes 1 (1)

2 spoken used to say that you disagree with a statement: “You're always complaining about things.” “No, I'm not!”

3 spoken used to say that you agree with a negative statement: “They shouldn't be charging such high prices.” “No, it's ridiculous!”

4 won't take no for an answer if someone won't take no for an answer, they say firmly that you must do something: You simply must come to dinner, and I won't take no for an answer.

5 spoken used to show that you are shocked, surprised, annoyed, or disappointed by what someone has just told you, or by what has just happened: “This skirt cost me -7.” “No!” | Oh no: Oh no, not another false alarm?

6 no good/no use etc not at all good, not at all useful etc: This map's no use - it's out of date. | I'm no good at physics.

7 no better/no more/no less etc not better, not more etc: They've written no fewer than ten letters of complaint and still nothing's been done.

8 no small part/no great matter etc formal a large part, a small matter etc: a question of no great inportance (=of little importance) | She had no small part (=had a large part) in its success.

2 determiner

1 not one or not any: Do you mind having black coffee. There's no milk. | There're no buses in this part of town. | a house with no central heating | be no reason why: There's no reason at all why Jenny shouldn't come along too.

2 used on a notice to say that something is forbidden: No parking | No smoking

3 in no time informal very little or hardly any: We're almost home now - we'll be there in no time.

4 there's no knowing/telling/saying etc spoken used to say that it is impossible to guess what will happen or what is true: He's such a strange person - there's no knowing what he'll do next.

5 be no fool/expert/friend etc to be not at all stupid etc: Larry's no friend of mine.

USAGE NOTE: NO GRAMMAR No is used before nouns and adjectives when it means `not any': No problem. | That's no good - it's broken. | He's no slimmer than he was before. Otherwise not is used, especially before a, all, many, much, and enough: Not many tourists come here. | not enough food for all of us | She's not stupid. | The news was not good. SPELLING Nobody meaning `no one' is always spelt as one word: There was nobody there (=no person). Compare: There was no body there (=there was not a dead body there). 3 noun plural noes

1 (singular) a negative answer or decision: The answer was a definite no.

2 noes (plural) votes against a proposal in parliament