Word.ws English Dictionary

took no for an answer

took no for an answer is the simple past 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 took no for an answer

What is took no for an answer the simple past of?
Took no for an answer is the simple past of take no for an answer.

Words near took no for an answer in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: took 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.

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