Word.ws English Dictionary

taking no for an answer

taking no for an answer is the present participle and gerund of take no for an answer.

Meaning of take no for an answer

Verb

take no for an answer (third-person singular simple present takes no for an answer, present participle taking no for an answer, simple past took no for an answer, past participle taken no for an answer)

  1. (idiomatic) To accept a refusal or rejection and cease pressing the issue.
    • No, I won't take no for an answer / Girl I made up my mind / Gonna be loving you, loving you / No, I won't take no for an answer1976, Eddie Kendricks, “I Won't Take No”, in He's A Friend

Questions about taking no for an answer

What is taking no for an answer the present participle and gerund of?
Taking no for an answer is the present participle and gerund of take no for an answer.

Words near taking no for an answer in the dictionary

  1. taking liberties
  2. taking lightly
  3. taking long
  4. taking lying down
  5. taking matters into one's own hands
  6. taking no for an answer
  7. taking no notice of
  8. taking no prisoners
  9. taking note
  10. taking notes
  11. taking notice

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking no for an answer (page history and authors); take no for an answer (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “taking no for an answer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_no_for_an_answer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.