not

1. not comparableNegates the meaning of the modified verb.

   Not knowing any better, I went ahead.

   5 more examples

   Did you take out the trash? — No, I did not. I do not think it was my turn, was it?

   It was felt desirable that she not leave school before fourteen.

   I'd rather Mom (did) not stay, cuz the best thing about a holiday is not working.

   Not a day passes when I don't regret not having enrolled in medicine.

   A callback pay for the workers called in to work when not scheduled to do so.

2. not comparableTo no degree.

   It's not you, it's me.

   2 more examples

   That is not red; it's green.

   Expectation: Everybody in the family has to love everybody else. Reaction: Not the ghost of Christmas past, present, or future could pull this one off unless feeling is already there.

   1984 December 22, John Stout, “Home for the Holidays: Survival Strategies for Gays”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 23, page 5

3. not comparableUsed to indicate the opposite or near opposite, often in a form of understatement.

   After not a few threats, they got what they’d been after for so long.

   4 more examples

   That day was not the best day of my life. (meaning the day was bad or awful)

   It was not my favorite movie of all time. (meaning the speaker dislikes or strongly dislikes the movie)

   In the not too distant future my view on the matter might be not a million miles away from yours.

   I wonder if I shouldn't see a doctor - I've been feeling funny the last few days.

4. not comparableUsed before a determiner phrase, a pronominal phrase etc. to convey a negative attitude (e.g. denial, sadness, anger) towards something.

   Not another rainy day!

   1 more example

   Oh god, not that! Anything but that!

5. informalironicnot comparableUsed before a non-finite clause (especially a gerund-participial clause) or less commonly a determiner phrase to ironically convey some attitude (e.g. surprise, incredulity, amusement, or embarrassment) towards something.First known use attested since the late 2000s, popularized around 2020

   Not me writing example sentences again.

   Oh my, there I go writing example sentences again!

   2 more examples

   Not me crying by the end of that!! You are a brilliant, beautiful human who deserves no less than the world. Thank you for taking the time to watch unicorn store. It’s a film that means so much to me.

   2023 July 8, @brielarson [Brie Larson], Twitter

   [Keke] Palmer tells Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager to “mind y'all's business” when they ask about her relationship with [Darius] Jackson. ¶ “Not y’all trying to get into it! They trying it on the Today show,” Palmer joked when the subject was first brought up on Today With Hoda & Jenna.

   2023 December 9, “Keke Palmer and Darius Jackson: A Complete Relationship Timeline”, in Glamour

1. And not.

   I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.

   2 more examples

   He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple.

   We can't run this bar without her. Not and raise two kids.

1. slangUsed to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.First known use chiefly 1990s

   Sure, you’re perfect the way you are … not!

   5 more examples

   Near-synonyms: I don't think; psych; bender (obsolete, UK)

   I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney … not!

   You've got a swell chance to make this [baseball] team, you have, not! Third base is my job, Freshie. Why, you tow-head, you couldn't play marbles. You butter-finger, can't you stop anything?

   1911 March, Zane Grey, “Out on the Field”, in The Young Pitcher, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, page 64

   "See?" "Uh-huh! Clear and lucid to the point of limpidity - 'not."

   1949, E.E 'Doc' Smith, chapter XIV, in Skylark of Valeron, London: Panther, published 1974, page 134

   After Seaworld it was down to Tijuana in Mexico. Charming place - not.

   1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 42

   Synonyms: I don't think, psych, bender

plural nots

1. An instance of using the word "not"; a negation or denial.

   The children are taught to be afraid of winter, of war, of death, of hard times, of disease, of examinations. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that children so seldom find the conversation of their elders uplifting. It is full of don’ts, buts and nots.

   1922 March 4, “Fed on Fear Too Much”, in The Pathfinder, volume 29, number 1470, Washington, D.C.: Pathfinder Publishing Company, page 33

2. Alternative letter-case form of NOT (“unary operation on logical values that changes true to false, and false to true”).

alternative Nut · alternative Nunut · alternative Nenet · alternative Nuit

1. Egyptianalternativehuman sciencesAlternative spelling of Nut.

plural NOTs

1. human sciencesA unary operation on logical values that changes true to false, and false to true.

   1 more example

   Notice that the NOT symbol is simply a BUF symbol followed by a bubble. The bubble represents logical inversion and is the actual NOT gate. Anytime you see a bubble attached to a gate pin, you can detach it from the pin and insert a separate NOT gate in its place without affecting the resulting logic.

   2022 August 4, William Bahn, “Boolean Algebra Laws—Delving Into Boolean Identities”, in All About Circuits

   Synonyms: ¬, !, ~, ˈ