nnnnn.

(also nnnnnn.)  n.  the sound of a baby complaining, as described in the novel Edwin Mullhouse by Steven Millhauser.


adv.  a hesitant no.

<He opened his eyes to peek and gazed into the bony face he had ... no, not loved ... cherished ... well, no, that wasn’t strictly true either.  How about cared for?  Nnnnn ... Oh, all right.  —Nina Killham, How to Cook a Tart.>

adv.  a stifled no.

<Edison kept Kootie’s jaw clamped shut so that his No! came out as just a prolonged “Nnnnn!”  —Tim Powers, Expiration Date: A Novel.> <“Nnnnn,” the best she could manage for no.  —Bev Marshall, Right as Rain: A Novel.>

interj.  a slurred grunt made by a drunk who needs to “take a piss,” as in Wounded: Collected Tales of Horror and the Grotesque by David Saliba.


interj.  a sound indicating that one is thinking, as in A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection by Nolan Zavoral.


interj.  a sound of disapproval.

<“What kind [of potato chips are those?]”  “Zapp’s.”  “Zapp’s?  Nnnnn.  Them old hard, crunchy-ass chips.”  —Louis Edwards, N: A Novel.>

n.  a “slow sigh” of regret: “Nnnnn.  I just killed the surprise” (Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire).

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