aught
/ɔːt/ (bre, ipa) · /ɔːt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈȯt ˈät/ (ame, mw)
aught — pronoun
1. Any thing, event, or detail at all, usually in old-fashioned or literary English
Any thing, event, or detail at all, usually in old-fashioned or literary English.
If aught remains in the box, Sade will give it away tonight.
pattern: if aught + verb
Gabriel asked whether aught had changed since the village meeting.
pattern: whether aught + verb
Should aught trouble Hui during the trip, call the hotel desk.
Rohan promised to return at once if aught went wrong.
The letter said Apinya could write again if aught was unclear.
文法句型
if aught + verb
whether aught + verb
should aught + verb
用法筆記
Mostly found in literary or deliberately old-fashioned writing, often after if, whether, or should. Distinguish from noun sense 2, where aught names something unimportant rather than an unspecified thing.
常見錯誤
aught — adverb
1. In any degree or way; at all, especially in old-fashioned negatives or compariso
In any degree or way; at all, especially in old-fashioned negatives or comparisons.
Ava was not aught afraid of the barking dog.
pattern: not aught + adjective
Esme did not sleep aught better in the hot upstairs room.
pattern: not + verb + aught + comparative
The note did not make matters aught clearer to the new clerk.
Zayd was not aught surprised when the lights failed again.
Ryan's knee was not aught worse after the long bus ride.
- at all
The direct modern equivalent and by far the usual wording today.
- in the least
Also appears after negatives, often with a slightly more formal tone.
- in any way
Broader and less literary; it can sound less compact than 'aught'.
文法句型
not aught + adjective
not aught + comparative
did not + verb + aught
用法筆記
Usually follows a negative and means 'at all' or 'in the least'. Modern everyday English almost always uses 'at all' instead.
常見錯誤
aught — noun
1. The figure or amount that represents zero.
The figure or amount that represents zero.
On the old scoreboard, the visitors had aught after three innings.
score context: have aught on the board
In the ledger, Esme wrote aught where no payment arrived.
record-keeping use: write aught
Gabriel copied aught into the final box on the tax form.
The coach laughed that the team still had aught on the board.
The farmer marked aught beside the first sheep sold that week.
- one
The next number above zero.
- a positive number
Any amount greater than zero, rather than none.
文法句型
have aught on the board
write aught beside + noun
用法筆記
Mostly seen in old-fashioned number talk, scores, or written records. Modern English normally uses 'zero' or, in British contexts, 'nought' instead.
2. Something regarded as so small or unimportant that it counts as nothing.
Something regarded as so small or unimportant that it counts as nothing.
To the wealthy owner, the repair bill was aught.
predicative use: be aught
The tiny scratch was aught after the bicycle crash.
Esme said one rude comment was aught beside her mother's safety.
Rohan treated the delay as aught and kept walking to the station.
After years away, the old rumor seemed aught beside the new crisis.
文法句型
be aught
treat + noun + as aught
aught beside + noun
用法筆記
Usually appears in a predicative structure that dismisses something as unimportant. Distinguish from pronoun sense 1, which means 'anything' rather than 'something of no value'.
3. The decade from 2000 through 2009, usually in the phrase 'the aughts'.
The decade from 2000 through 2009, usually in the phrase 'the aughts'.
Fashion from the aughts is back in many shop windows this spring.
time label: from the aughts
Ava keeps a blog about pop songs from the aughts.
The class compared internet speeds in the nineties and the aughts.
Most family photos on that shelf were taken in the aughts.
Hui remembers the aughts as the years of small silver cameras.
- the 2000s
The straightforward modern label for the same decade.
- the first decade of the twenty-first century
Much more formal and exact, while 'the aughts' is shorter and more conversational.
- the nineties
The decade immediately before the aughts.
- the 2010s
The decade immediately after the aughts.
文法句型
in the aughts
from the aughts
用法筆記
Normally used in the plural phrase 'the aughts' when talking about the first decade of the 2000s. This modern time-label sense is separate from noun sense 1, which simply means zero.