(noes, or no's)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use no to give a negative response to a question.
'Any problems?'-'No, I'm O.K.'...
'Haven't you got your driver's licence?'-'No.'
? yes
CONVENTION
2.
You use no to say that something that someone has just said is not true.
'We thought you'd emigrated.'-'No, no.'...
'You're getting worse than me.'-'No I'm not.'
? yes
CONVENTION
3.
You use no to refuse an offer or a request, or to refuse permission.
'Here, have mine.'-'No, this is fine.'...
'Can you just get the message through to Pete for me?'-'No, no I can't.'...
After all, the worst the boss can do is say no if you ask him.
CONVENTION
4.
You use no to indicate that you do not want someone to do something.
No. I forbid it. You cannot...
She put up a hand to stop him. 'No. It's not right. We mustn't.'
EXCLAM
5.
You use no to acknowledge a negative statement or to show that you accept and understand it.
'We're not on the main campus.'-'No.'...
'It's not one of my favourite forms of music.'-'No.'
= right
CONVENTION
6.
You use no before correcting what you have just said.
I was twenty-two-no, twenty-one.
CONVENTION
7.
You use no to express shock or disappointment at something you have just been told.
'John phoned to say that his computer wasn't working.'-'Oh God no.'
EXCLAM [feelings]
8.
You use no to mean not any or not one person or thing.
He had no intention of paying the cash...
No job has more influence on the future of the world...
No letters survive from this early period.
DET
9.
You use no to emphasize that someone or something is not the type of thing mentioned.
He is no singer...
I make it no secret that our worst consultants earn nothing...
DET: DET n-sing [emphasis]
10.
You can use no to make the negative form of a comparative.
It is to start broadcasting no later than the end of next year...
Yesterday no fewer than thirty climbers reached the summit...
= not
ADV: ADV compar
11.
You use no in front of an adjective and noun to make the noun group mean its opposite.
Sometimes a bit of selfishness, if it leads to greater self-knowledge, is no bad thing...
Today's elections are of no great importance in themselves.
DET: DET adj n
12.
No is used in notices or instructions to say that a particular activity or thing is forbidden.
The captain turned out the 'no smoking' signs...
...a notice saying 'No Dogs'.
DET
13.
A no is a person who has answered 'no' to a question or who has voted against something. No is also used to refer to their answer or vote.
According to the latest opinion polls, the noes have 50 percent, the yeses 35 percent...
? yes
N-COUNT
14.
If you say there is no doing a particular thing, you mean that it is very difficult or impossible to do that thing.
There is no going back to the life she had...
PHRASE: PHR -ing [emphasis]
15.
not to
take no for an answer: see
answer