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not

[ not ]
/ nɒt /
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adverb
(used to express negation, denial, refusal, or prohibition): You must not do that. It's not far from here.
U.S. Slang. (used jocularly as a postpositive interjection to indicate that a previous statement is untrue): I just love working overtime without pay. Not!
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Idioms about not

    not so much, Informal. (an expression of dismissive scorn, ambivalence, or skepticism): Attractive? Yes. Smart? Not so much.Is the world coming to an end? Yeah, not so much.

Origin of not

1275–1325; Middle English; weak variant of nought

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH not

knot, not

Other definitions for not (2 of 3)

NOT
[ not ]
/ nɒt /

noun
a Boolean operator that returns a positive result if its operand is negative and a negative result if its operand is positive.

Other definitions for not (3 of 3)

not-

variant of noto- before a vowel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use not in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for not (1 of 2)

not
/ (nɒt) /

adverb
  1. used to negate the sentence, phrase, or word that it modifiesI will not stand for it
  2. (in combination)they cannot go
not that (conjunction) which is not to say or suppose thatI expect to lose the game — not that I mind Also (archaic): not but what
sentence substitute
used to indicate denial, negation, or refusalcertainly not

Word Origin for not

C14 not, variant of nought nothing, from Old English nāwiht, from no + wiht creature, thing. See naught, nought

British Dictionary definitions for not (2 of 2)

not-

combining form
a variant of noto-
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with not

not

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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