naught
/nɔːt
/pronoun archaic
Nothing: he’s naught but a worthless fool...
- First, think of a person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
- When naught remained of the wound but the scar, the flow of light to the wound stopped, flowing about her hands, then vanished.
- With naught but a tent for shelter, the traveler is in constant danger - both from bandits and the elements.
Synonyms
nothing, nothing at all, nought, nil, zero;
Northern English nowt
informal zilch, sweet Fanny Adams, sweet FA, not a dicky bird, nix
British informal damn all, not a sausage
North American informal zip, zippo, nada, diddly-squat, a goose egg
British vulgar slang bugger all, fuck all, sod all
noun North American
variant spelling of nought.It is a series of numbers, hyphens, naughts, strokes, and zeds....
- Ryan was just hysterically laughing, asking how it was a twenty-one year old could lose to a five year old child in naughts and crosses.
- Those naughts and ones are then what we call modulated, or carried if you like, as a passenger on a radio frequency signal.
Phrases
bring to naught
come to naught
set at naught
Origin
Old English nāwiht, -wuht, from nā 'no' + wiht 'thing' (see wight).