(a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal, as in response to a question or request).
“Have you done the dishes yet?” “No, not yet.”
(used to emphasize or introduce a negative statement).
Not a single person came to the party, no, not a one.
not in any degree or manner; not at all (used with a comparative).
He is no better.
an utterance of the word “no.”
a denial or refusal.
He responded with a definite no.
a negative vote or voter.
The noes have it.
not any.
no money.
not at all; far from being.
He is no genius.
very little; negligible.
We got her to the hospital in no time.
north.
northern.
number.
used to express denial, disagreement, refusal, disapproval, disbelief, or acknowledgment of negative statements
used with question intonation to query a previous negative statement, as in disbelief
Alfred isn't dead yet. No?
an answer or vote of no
(often plural) a person who votes in the negative
there is a majority of votes in the negative
to continue in a course of action despite refusals
not any, not a, or not one
there's no money left
no card in the file
not by a long way; not at all
she's no youngster
(followed by comparative adjectives and adverbs) not
no fewer than forty men
no more quickly than before
See go 1
north(ern)
Also: no. number
Plural word for no The plural form of no can be either nos or noes. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -o are also formed this way, as in mango/mangos/mangoes and mosquito/mosquitos/mosquitoes. In some instances, particularly in advertising and other public communications, the plural form of no is written with an apostrophe, as in no's. This is not considered standard, but it may be easier to understand in some contexts, because nos. (with a period at the end) is also used as an abbreviation for numbers and because many people are unfamiliar with the plural form of no. The word no is only pluralized when it is used as a noun rather than in its more common use as an adverb. The word no as a noun means "an answer or vote of no" or "a person who votes in the negative," as in The noes outnumbered the yeses.
First recorded before 900; Middle English no, na, Old English nā, from n(e) “not” + ā ay 1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; variant of none 1
1870–75; < Japanese, earlier noũ < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese néng ability
No is the ultimate negative: it means "not any," or "not at all," and it's also used to express a generally negative response. If there's no milk for your cereal in the morning, there's not a drop left. A sign in a school hallway that says "No running" means that it's absolutely not allowed. And, the response, "No, thanks" when you offer your friend half of your liverwurst sandwich means that she is really not interested. You might vote no on a special ballot question about extending school to Saturdays or exclaim, "Oh no!" to express disappointment when your team loses a big game. No comes from the Old English negative, na.
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The staff members, who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, are no less serious about the product.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Farell also acknowledged Burke’s relationship with the teenager was no secret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in the case of Pogacar, Vingegaard or any of those tested at night this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
AI spending shows no signs of letting up, either.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
“I know, right? But it doesn’t matter how long it takes; I’m in no hurry to get it all done right now.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
No, not unless I had a system whose outputs I’d already tested, and I’d want to see how credible its answers are and how much they change with a different thesis.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
No structures had been damaged or destroyed as of Sunday night, according to Cal Fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
No 10 staff are already wondering if they'll ever be able to stick to a regular prime minister's schedule, normally designed with military precision.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
A No 10 source said this was part of his plan to "run towards problems that have been neglected".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
No humans had trespassed into his forest, forcing him to cower or sneak.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
I have a rural note of one of my visits to the Nō.
From The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by Scott, J.W. Robertson
“You start to think it can’t get any worse. But no. They show their true colors every single time.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
“No, no, no. Good lord, no,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
"Part of me did think that there might have been a touch of Mediterranean in my blood, but no. Wales is through my blood."
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
He’s like, “Oh, no, no, no. I have a part for you in ‘Carrie.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
“Oooh, no. Sorry, that answer is wrong. Riverview? Would you like to answer this one?”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Research firm SemiAnalysis predicts that CXMT’s global share will grow to 12% by next year, up from an estimated 9% in 2025, cementing its No. 4 position behind the big three.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
That blast was also Muncy’s 229th as a Dodger, moving him into sole possession of No. 5 on the franchise’s all-time list.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
No. His more severe sentence is unaffected by the new rules, whatever new timetable the PM decides on.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Drawing that line is the No. 1 job of a national energy strategy, and the U.S. doesn’t have one anymore.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
"No. With your face. Stop it. It's freaking me out."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
That was a “complete lie,” he told the press: “I have been a ‘heck no’ the whole time.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
“And that was kind of like, ‘Oh, no’ and ‘Oh, yeah’ at the same time.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
‘No no no no no’, he shouted, as if he was talking to someone.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
“I went ‘oh no’ and then I just went into shock, there’s no other way to say it,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
“Well, I was just near the dreariest part o’ the upper glen, and no’ far from the fairy knoll.
From Kenneth McAlpine A Tale of Mountain, Moorland and Sea by Stables, Gordon
On this occasion, there are more emphatic "noes" than groans, and Ms Harris accepts defeat this time around.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
An August referendum on restarting the reactor, held just three months after it closed, failed to attract a quorum, though the yes votes outweighed the noes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Their yeses and great noes no longer mean anything.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2025
She retreated, asking the ayes and noes to stand on separate sides of the room.
From Slate ● May 6, 2024
All day, the yeses and noes had been swirling inside her, faster, faster, until she felt dizzy with indecision.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
As the beats of "nos óra dja txiga" played through the fan zone, supporters chanted along in excitement – some waving the national flag.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
On a blistering summer day, Aduba quickly styled her hair in Bantu knots as she prepared to trudge to another round of back-to-back auditions, certain more nos were on the way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
This study was funded in part by the Richard Gilder Graduate School and the National Science Foundation, grant nos.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024
“Over time, the nos got fewer and fewer.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
A mighty wave of nos mixed with giggles swept the crowd.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
