noplacen.adv.
/ˈnəʊpleɪs/, U.S. /ˈnoʊˌpleɪs/ A. n.
A place which does not exist; a featureless or unimportant place. Also (in extended use): an indeterminate condition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > [noun] > non-existent place
nowherea1425
nowherea1599
noplace1850
1850 R. Bell Ladder of Gold I. ii. v. 277 There was a short starving railway near the seashore, the sleepers of which slept between Noplace and Nowhere.
1929 E. Bowen Last September xi. 131 To be enclosed in nonentity, in some ideal no-place.
1958 Listener 28 Aug. 304/2 Neither to accept nor to rebel Is that no-place which I call hell.
1963 Colorado Portfolio No. 1. 31/3 And in some noplace in some notime he would take out a tiny book..and write.
1989 E. L. Doctorow Billy Bathgate ii. xvi Then I was following her stark naked through the brush into this noplace of such great green presence she had chosen arbitrarily.
B. adv.
Chiefly U.S. colloquial. Nowhere. Also (with another negative): anywhere.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > here, there, etc. > [adverb] > nowhere
nowhereeOE
never wherea1400
no-gatesa1400
nothera1400
nother-wherea1400
nouthera1400
nouther-wherea1400
nowheres1847
no-gate1879
noplace1880
1880 L. Parr Adam & Eve II. 17 Ain't there no place else for us to go to, eh, stupid?]
1880 Notes & Queries 24 Apr. 340/2 ‘No place’ in Devonshire is the usual form of ‘nowhere’.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It ix. 74 ‘Where you going?’ I..cried out: ‘Noplace!’
1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at Office (1972) 192 We was in two trucks, packed in tight so you couldn't hardly sit down noplace.
1987 R. McCammon Swan Song ix. lviii. 588 Ain't noplace to take him but there.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adv.1850