nothing doing

Idioms  

1. Certainly not, as in Can I borrow your down coat?—Nothing doing. This colloquial interjection was first recorded in 1910. Also see, no dice.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nothing doing

Replays show the ball hit her arm only after bouncing up from her knee, so nothing doing and play continues.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2024

With nothing doing on Capitol Hill, Trump may increasingly start looking for successes overseas.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2017

Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, doing nothing on their side of the bridge, on the NJ roads approaching the bridge where they are responsible?

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2016

In a contest between doing difficult cultural-transformation work and doing nothing, doing nothing wins, over and over.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2016

I’m trying to get her to laugh, but nothing doing.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

Related Words

• rebuke
• rejection
• reprimand
• snub