on no account

Idioms  

1. Also, not on any account. Under no circumstances, certainly not, as in On no account should you put a metal utensil in the microwave oven, or Dad said we can't go, not on any account. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

“The dahlia’s first duty in life is to flaunt and to swagger,” wrote British horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll, “and to carry gorgeous blooms well above its leaves, and on no account to hang its head.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 15, 2022

I left word with the maid that we were on no account to be disturbed and we sat down to thresh the whole thing out.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 13, 2017

But on no account turn the steering wheel.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2014

Besides, she is already wrapping up, telling me that on no account am I to refer to her as a Taiwanese businesswoman.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2012

“Explore the manse and grounds as you like, but on no account stray beyond the walls. It is best that no man knows that you were here.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin