950
ning): She had no small part (=had a large part)
less. | a question of no great importance (=of little
ance) | for no particular reason | 'Did you have good
ther?' 'No such luck; it rained the whole time.' 4 (used for
xpressing great surprise): 'I bought this bicycle for £5.'
'No!' 5 BrE nonstandard or no or not: You'll have to do it,
whether or no you want to. | Like it or no, you'll have to do it.
no2 determiner 1 not a; not one; not any: no sugar in the bowl |
no telephone in our house | no buses in this part of town | You
can't lie to me; I'm no fool. | Her refusal came as no surprise.
(=I expected it) → see SOME (USAGE), NO WAY 2 (used in
warnings and road signs to express what is not allowed): No
smoking | No parking 3 infml very little; hardly any: We're
almost home; we'll be there in no time. (=very soon) | It's no
distance at all to the school, only a short walk. 4 infml there's
no knowing/saying/telling etc it's not possible to know/
say/tell etc: He's such a strange person; there's no knowing
what he'll do next.
USAGE 1 Compare no and not. You can use no where the
meaning is 'not any': no money | no smoking | no thick
shoes | no faster | no good. Otherwise use not: not a
chance | not all of us | not enough | not often | not on
Sunday | I'm not coming. | She's not stupid. 2 When
answering questions remember that your choice of 'yes'
or 'no' depends on whether what you are going to say is
positive or negative and not on whether or not you agree
with the speaker: 'She's not very clever.' 'No she isn't.'
(=you are right, she isn't). 'Yes she is.' (=you are wrong,
she is clever)
no3 n pl. noes 1 [C usually sing.] an answer or decision of no: a
clear no to my request for money → opposite YES 2 [usually pl.]
a vote or voter against a question to be decided, especially in
a parliament → opposite AYE
no. pl. nos. written abbrev. for NUMBER
No, Noh /nəʊ/ n [U] a type of traditional Japanese DRAMA
based on old stories. The actors wear beautiful costumes and
MASKS on their faces. They do not speak, but make slow,
exact movements, while music is played and a CHORUS sings.
No. 11, Number Eleven /ˌnʌmbə rɪ'levn/ No. 11 Downing
Street; the official home of the British CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER (=the chief financial minister)
No. 10, Number Ten /ˌnʌmbə 'tenl-bər-/ No. 10 Downing
Street; the official home of the British Prime Minister.
The expression is also used, especially in newspapers and
news broadcasts to mean the Prime Minister and his or her
advisers: This suggestion won't be welcomed at No. 10. |
Sources close to Number 10 say there will be no change in the
Cabinet. → see colour photo on page A34
No. 2 pencil /ˌnʌmbə tu: 'pensəl-bər-/ n AmE a type of
pencil with a soft LEAD (=the substance in the centre) which
produces a dark mark. In the US, students have to use No. 2
pencils for official MULTIPLE CHOICE exams such as SATs.
'no-ac,count also no-count n, adj [A] AmE dial derog (a person
who is) completely worthless: his no-count, good-for-nothing
nephew
No-ah /'nəʊə/ in the Old Testament of the Bible, a man
chosen by God to build an ARK (=a large boat) so that he
could save his family and two of every kind of animal that
lived on the Earth from the terrible FLOOD which covered
the Earth. There are many songs and stories about Noah's
ark, which describe how the animals were chosen, and how
they went into the ark 'two by two'.
Noah's 'ark n [S] the large boat which Noah built, accord-
ing to the Bible, to save his family and two of every type of
animal from a flood sent by God
nob /nɒb|nɑ:b/ n infml derog or humor, especially BrE a rich person
with a high social position: The nob live in the big houses on
the hill.
'no ball n (in cricket and other similar games) an act of
bowling (BOWL (1b)) the ball in a way that is not allowed by
the rules
nob·ble /'nɒbəl|'nɑ:-/ v [T] BrE slang 1 to prevent (a race-
horse) from winning, especially by giving it drugs: They
nobbled the favourite. 2 to get the attention of (someone),
especially in order to persuade or ask for a favour: I nobbled
him at the party and told him about the book I was writ-
ing. 3 to get dishonestly: He nobbled the free ticket for
himself.
No·bel, Al·fred /nəʊ'bel, 'ælfʀəd/ (1833-96) a Swedish engi-
neer and CHEMIST who invented DYNAMITE (=a powerful
explosive substance) and became very wealthy from his
factories that produced explosives. When he died, he left all
his money to establish the NOBEL PRIZES.
No'bel ,prize n one of the prizes given each year to people
who have done important work in various types of activity.
There are prizes for special achievements in PHYSICS, chemis-
try, economics, literature, and peace. The Nobel prizes were
established by Alfred Nobel and are given in Sweden. It is
considered a great honour to receive a Nobel prize, and
people who have received them are sometimes called Nobel
laureates.
no·bil·i·ty /nəʊ'bɪləti, nə-/.n 1 [the+sing./pl. v] the group of
people in certain countries who are of the highest social class
and have titles such as (in Britain) DUKE and EARL; the
ARISTOCRACY: Most of the nobility fled during the revolu-
tion. 2 [U] also no·ble·ness /'nəʊbəlnəs/ the quality of being
noble in character or appearance
no·ble1 /'nəʊbəl/ adj 1 deserving praise and admiration
because of unselfishness and high moral quality: noble and
generous feelings | It was very noble of you to look after your
old neighbour when she was sick. | fighting for a noble cause
→ opposite IGNOBLE 2 admirable in appearance; grand;
IMPRESSIVE: this noble monument to our war heroes 3 of or
belonging to the nobility: a noble family | a man of noble
birth 4 [no comp.] (of metals like gold and silver) not chemi-
cally changed by air → compare BASE METAL; see also
NOBLY 5 this was the noblest Roman of them all quote a
phrase from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar said by Mark
Antony about Brutus
noble2 n [usually pl.] (especially in FEUDAL times) a person of
the highest and most powerful social class outside the royal
family → compare COMMONER
no·ble·man /'nəʊbəlmən/, no·ble·wom·an /-ˌwʊmən/
fem. — n pl. -men /-mən/ a member of the nobility; PEER
noble 'savage, the an expression used to talk about a
person who is uneducated but has a lot of natural good
qualities
CULTURAL NOTE The idea of the noble savage was
invented by the French writer and thinker, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, who believed that people were naturally good
and kind, but were CORRUPTED by society, which taught
them to be evil.
no·blesse o·blige /ˌnəˌbles ə'bli:ʒ/ n [U] the principle
that people with high social class, money, good education
etc should use these advantages to help people who do not
have them
no·bly /'nəʊbli/ adv 1 in a noble way, especially generously
and unselfishly: She nobly did my work as well as hers while I
was ill. 2 with a noble rank (in the phrase nobly born)
no·bod·y1 /'nəʊbɒd|i|-ˌbɑ:di, -bədi/ pron no person; NO ONE:
I knocked on the door but nobody answered. → see also like
nobody's business (BUSINESS), EVERYONE (USAGE), SOME-
THING (USAGE)
nobody2 n a person of no importance or influence: I want to
be famous – I'm tired of being a nobody!
no-claims ,bonus n BrE a reduction in the regular pay-
ments made to an insurance company (especially for motor
vehicles), given to someone who has not made any claims
within a particular period
no 'contest → see NOLO CONTENDERE
'no-count → see NO-ACCOUNT
noc·tur·nal /nɒk't:nəl|nɑ:k'tɜ:r-/ adj fml or tech of, happen-
ing, or active at night: a nocturnal visit | nocturnal creatures
such as owls and badgers —ly adv
noc·turne /'nɒktɜ:n|'nɑ:ktɜ:rn/ n a piece of music related
to the night, especially a soft beautiful piece of piano music
nod1 /nɒd|nɑ:d/ v -dd- 1 [I,T] to bend (one's head) forward
and down, especially to show agreement or give a greeting
or sign: She nodded (her head) when she passed me in the
street. | I asked her if she was ready to go, and she nodded. |
The committee members nodded in agreement with him. | (fig.)