no dice
10
9.7
- idiom
- Informal
- I asked to borrow his car, but he said no dice.
Examples
-
They tried to get tickets for the concert, but no dice: it was sold out.
-
When I requested a day off, my manager replied, no dice!
-
She hoped to leave work early, but the boss said no dice.
-
I asked for a raise, but the boss said no dice.
-
I asked to borrow his car, but he said no dice.
-
She hoped to leave work early, but the boss said no dice.
-
They tried to get tickets for the concert, but no dice: it was sold out.
Synonyms
44
7.0
Not working or allowed to go ahead
19
8.7
Not getting any success when you try something
12
8.1
A way to say something is very unlikely to happen
3
8.4
Have no chance of success
1
9.9
To say that something failed or did not work
Antonyms
How Possible
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'no chance / not allowed' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'no' (negation) + 'dice' (gaming cubes). Although 'dice' can metaphorically suggest chance, the fixed slang sense is idiomatic and unpredictable for learners who haven't seen the expression, so it would not be reliably understood by a B1 learner knowing the separate words.
Etymology
No dice probably comes from games with dice. One popular story says that when a player failed to roll the needed number, people would say no dice, meaning 'no good roll', and so the phrase now means 'no chance' or 'not allowed'.