[night letter]{n.} A telegram sent at night at a cheaper rate and delivered in the morning. •/I waited until after six o’clock in the evening before sending the telegram home because I can say more for the same price in a night letter./

[night life]{n. phr.} Entertainment at night. •/People in the city are able to find more night life than those who live in the country./

[night owl]{n. phr.} One who sleeps during the day and stays up or works during the night. •/Tom hardly ever sleeps at night; he prefers to work by lamp light and has become a regular night owl./ Compare: GRAVEYARD SHIFT.

[nine] See: CAT HAS NINE LIVES, ON CLOUD NINE.

[nine-to-five job]{n. phr.} A typical office job that starts at 9 A.M. and ends at 5 P.M. with a one-hour lunch break at 12 noon or 1 P.M. •/We professors are not too well paid but I could never get used to a nine-to-five job./

[ninety] See: GAY NINETIES.

[nip and tuck]{adj. or adv.}, {informal} Evenly matched; hard fought to the finish. •/The game was nip and tuck until the last minute./ •/A was a nip and tuck race right to the finish line./ •/The two salesmen fought nip and tuck for the contract all the way./ Compare: NECK AND NECK.

[nip in the bud]{v. phr.} To check at the outset; prevent at the start; block or destroy in the beginning. •/The police nipped the plot in the bud./ •/The teacher nipped the disorder in the bud./

[no account(1)]{adj.} Of no importance. •/The lowly clerk’s opinion is of no account in this matter./

[no account(2)]{n. phr.} A person of low social station. •/Fred was first considered a no account but he soon proved himself to be a person of great ability./

[nobody] See: IT’S AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NOBODY GOOD.

[nobody home]{slang} 1. Your attention is somewhere else, not on what is being said or done here; you are absent-minded. •/The teacher asked him a question three times but he still looked out the window. She gave up, saying, "Nobody home."/ 2. You are feeble-minded or insane. •/He pointed to the woman, tapped his head, and said, "Nobody home."/

[nobody’s fool]{n. phr.} A smart person; a person who knows what he is doing; a person who can take care of himself. •/In the classroom and on the football field, Henry was nobody’s fool./ Contrast: BORN YESTERDAY.

[nod] See: LAND OF NOD.

[nodding acquaintance]{n.} Less than casual acquaintance. •/I have never spoken to the chancellor; we have only a nodding acquaintance./

[no deal] or [no dice] or [no go] or [no sale] or [no soap] {slang} Not agreed to; refused or useless; without success or result; no; certainly not. — Used in the predicate or to refuse something. •/Billy wanted to let Bob join the team, but I said that it was no deal because Bob was too young./ •/"Let me have a dollar." "No dice!" answered Joe./ •/I tried to get Mary on the telephone but it was no go./ •/"Let’s go to the beach tomorrow." "No sale, I have my music lesson tomorrow."/ •/I asked Dad for a new bicycle but it was no soap./ Compare: NOTHING DOING, NO USE.

[no doubt]{adv.} 1. Without doubt; doubtless; surely; certainly. •/No doubt Susan was the smartest girl in her class./ 2. Probably. •/John will no doubt telephone us if he comes to town./

[no end]{adv.}, {informal} 1. Very much; exceedingly. •/Jim was no end upset because he couldn’t go swimming./ 2. Almost without stopping; continually. •/The baby cried no end./

[no end to] or {informal} [no end of] So many, or so much of, as to seem almost endless; very many or very much. •/There was no end to the letters pouring into the post office./ •/Bob and Dick became close friends and had no end of fun together./

[no frills]{n. phr.} A firm or product that offers no extras; a generic product that carries no expensive label. •/We went on a no frills trip to Europe with few luxuries./

[noggin] See: USE ONE’S HEAD or USE ONE’S NOGGIN.

[no go] See: NO DEAL.

[no good]{adj. phr.} Not satisfactory; not adequate; not approved. •/"That’s no good," I told him when he began to cry./ •/He was no good at arithmetic./ •/He tried appealing to the man’s pride, but it did no good./

[no great shakes]{adj.}, {informal} Mediocre; unimportant. •/Joe Wilson is no great shakes./

[no hard feelings]{n. phr.} A lack of resentment or anger; a state of peace and forgiveness. •/"No hard feelings," he said. "You should feel free to make constructive criticism any time."/

[no kidding]{n. phr.} Without jokes or teasing; honestly spoken. •/"You actually won the lottery?" Dick asked. "No kidding," Joe replied. "I really did."/

[no longer]{adv.} Not any more; not at the present time. •/He could no longer be trusted and they had to let him go./ •/The shore was no longer in sight./

[no love lost]{n. phr.} Bad feeling; ill will. •/Bob and Dick both wanted to be elected captain of the team, and there was no love lost between them./ •/There was no love lost between the sales and the accounting departments./

[no matter] 1. Not anything important. •/I wanted to see him before he left but it’s no matter./ 2. It makes no difference; regardless of. •/She was going to be a singer no matter what difficulties she met./ •/He had to get the car fixed no matter how much it cost./ •/No matter what you try to do, it is important to be able to speak well./ •/You can’t go in no matter who you are./ •/Mary wanted to get to school on time, no matter if she went without breakfast./

[no matter what]{adv. phr.} Under any circumstances. •/We will go to Europe this summer, no matter what./ •/Charles had decided to go to the football game and he felt he must go no matter what./ Compare: COME HELL OR HIGH WATER.

[nonce] See: FOR THE TIME BEING also FOR THE NONCE.

[none] See: HALF A LOAF IS BETTER THAN NONE, HAVE NONE OF.

[none too]{adv.} Not very; not at all. •/The doctor arrived none too soon as Lucy’s fever was alarmingly high./

[nonsense] See: STUFF AND NONSENSE.

[nonstarter]{n.} An idea, plan, or project that doesn’t work or is obviously no good. •/His plan to start a new private school is a nonstarter because he is unable to organize anything./

[noodle] See: USE ONE’S HEAD or USE ONE’S NOODLE.

[no picnic]{n. phr.} Something arduous; something that requires great effort to accomplish. •/It is no picnic to climb Mount Everest./ Contrast: A PIECE OF CAKE, A CINCH, EASY AS APPLE PIE.

[nor] See: NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL, NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, NEITHER HIDE NOR HAIR.

[no sale] See: NO DEAL.

[nose] See: COUNT HEADS or COUNT NOSES, CUT OFF ONE’S NOSE TO SPITE ONE’S FACE, FOLLOW ONE’S NOSE, GO INTO A TAIL SPIN or GO INTO A NOSE DIVE, HARD-NOSED, KEEP ONE’S NOSE CLEAN, KEEP ONE’S NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE, LEAD BY THE NOSE, LOOK DOWN ONE’S NOSE AT, ON THE NOSE, PAY THROUGH THE NOSE, PUT ONE’S NOSE OUT OF JOINT, SEE BEYOND ONE’S NOSE, SKIN OFF ONE’S NOSE, THUMB ONE’S NOSE, TURN UP ONE’S NOSE AT, UNDER ONE’S NOSE.

[nose about] or [nose around] {v. phr.}, {informal} To look for something kept private or secret; poke about; explore; inquire; pry. •/In Grandmother’s attic, Sally spent a while nosing about in the old family pictures./ •/The detective was nosing around in the crowd looking for pickpockets./