no / nō/ • adj. 1. not any: there is no excuse | no two plants are alike.2. used to indicate that something is quite the opposite of what is being specified: it was no easy task persuading her | Toby is no fool.3. hardly any: you'll be back in no time.4. used in notices or slogans forbidding or rejecting something specified: “No Smoking” signs | no nukes.• interj. used to give a negative response: “Is anything wrong?” “No.” ∎  expressing disagreement or contradiction: “This is boring.” “No, it's not!” ∎  expressing agreement with or affirmation of a negative statement: they would never cause a fuss, oh no. ∎  expressing shock or disappointment at something one has heard or discovered: oh no, look at this!• adv. not at all; to no extent: they were no more able to perform the task than I was.• n. (pl. noes) a negative answer or decision, as in voting: he was unable to change his automatic yes to a no.PHRASES: no can do inf. I am unable to do it.the noes have it the negative votes are in the majority.no less see less.no longer not now as formerly: they no longer live here.no more see more.no place nowhere.no sooner —— than see soon.not take no for an answer persist in spite of refusals.no two ways about it used to convey that there can be no doubt about something.no way inf. under no circumstances; not at all: You think she's alone? No way.or no or not: she'd have ridden there, winter or no.—— or no —— regardless of the specified thing: recession or no recession there is always going to be a shortage of good people.

no no cross, no crown cross is here used punningly, as in crosses are ladders that lead to heaven; proverbial saying, early 17th century.
no cure, no pay proverbial saying, late 19th century; expression used on Lloyd's of London's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement.
no foot, no horse proverbial saying relating to horse care and recorded from the mid 18th century; in North America, the form is no hoof, no horse.
no man can serve two masters proverbial saying, early 14th century; with biblical allusion to Matthew 6:24, the verse which concludes with the words, you cannot serve God and Mammon.
no man is a hero to his valet proverbial saying, mid 18th century; originally said by the French society hostess Madame Cornuel (1605–94).
no-man's-land disputed ground between the front lines or trenches of two opposing armies; used particularly with reference to the First World War.
no moon, no man proverbial saying, late 19th century, recording the traditional belief that a child born at the time of the new moon or just before its appearance will not live to grow up.
no names, no packdrill proverbial saying, early 20th century, meaning that if nobody is named as being responsible, nobody can be blamed or punished (packdrill is a form of military punishment in which an offender is made to march up and down in full marching order). The expression is now used generally to express an unwillingness to provide detailed information.
no news is good news proverbial saying, early 17th century, often used in consolation or resignation.
no pain, no gain proverbial saying, late 16th century, meaning that nothing worth having can be achieved without effort.
no penny, no paternoster proverbial saying, early 16th century, meaning that if you want a thing you must pay for it (the reference is to priests insisting on being paid for performing services).
no surrender! Protestant Northern Irish slogan originating with the defenders of Derry against the Catholic forces of James II in 1689.

No ★★ 1998

Based on a segment of writer-director Lepage's play “The Seven Branches of the River Ota,” which juxtaposes events at the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka, Japan with an infamous event in Canadian history, as separatist terrorists in Quebec kidnap a British diplomat and a Quebec cabinet minister. Montreal actress Sophie (Cadieux) is performing in Osaka while her boyfriend Michel (Martin) is back home watching the political upheaval on TV. Sophie has a number of personal crises to contend with, while Michel gets so wrapped up in politics he contemplates taking radical actions of his own. The cultural and political differences won't necessarily travel well outside French-speaking Canada. 85m/C VHS . CA Anne-Marie Cadieux, Alexis Martin, Marie Brassard, Richard Frechette, Marie Gignac, Eric Bernier; D: Robert Lepage; W: Robert Lepage, Andre Morency; C: Pierre Mignot; M: Michael F. Cote, Bernard Falaise. Toronto-City ‘98: Canadian Feature Film.

no3 expressing a negative answer. XIII. midl. and south. ME. form of OE. nā, f. ne neg. particle (= OS., OHG. ne, ni, ON né, Goth. ni; corr. to L. ne- (vars. nec-, neg-), OSl. ne, Skr. na, etc., with long vowel L. nē lest. Gr. nē-, Goth. nē, Skr. nā; cf. UN-1 + ā ever (cf. AY).

no2 not any. XIII (na, no). Clipped form of NONE1, orig. used (like A1) before words beginning with a cons. Comps. nobody XIV, nohow XVIII, NOTHING OE., noway(s) XIII, NOWHERE, NOWHITHER OE.