What's the difference between nought and ought?

Nought


Definition:

  • (n. & adv.) See Naught.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The family's efforts to bring the police officers responsible for Orun's death to justice had all come to nought.
  • (2) In 2008, for example, it staged Nought to Sixty, an ambitious show of 60 young artists, who presented week-long exhibitions, performances, talks, interventions, off-site projects and film screenings over six months.
  • (3) Britain has passed plenty of mind-boggling landmarks since 2007 when the credit crisis struck, but news that the government now owes £1 trillion – yes, that's twelve noughts – underlines just how long it will take for the economy to adjust to what Sir Mervyn King, in a speech on Tuesday night, called a "new equilibrium".
  • (4) Among the songs is Put Another Nought on the End … He's a Friend.
  • (5) Despite disagreeing with the visa cancellation, Newman had “no right to treat it as nought”, Nettle said, adding that he had shown “consummate disregard” for Australian law.
  • (6) The total viable counts and levels of Bacillus cereus, Clostridium welchii, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were determined in 294 infant foods samples from nought to eight hours after preparation.
  • (7) With the derestriction of broadcasting hours, those Zen-like moments of stillness on British TV – filled with Test Card F , the little girl with an Alice band playing noughts and crosses on a blackboard, or IBA engineering announcements "for the radio and television trade" – began to disappear, to be replaced eventually by an endless flow of programmes, stretching from dawn till daybreak.
  • (8) Even as he conceded that the buoyant growth he'd once expected for 2012 had, literally, come to nought, the Bank of England's governor saw no urgent need for fresh stimulus .
  • (9) Fortunately, however, a petition of the Downing Street website to install Jeremy Clarkson as PM came to nought.
  • (10) So IBM’s Deep Blue could beat Gary Kasparov at chess, but would struggle against a three-year-old in a round of noughts and crosses.
  • (11) All the bright ideas and hard work that nurse educationalists are investing in the new courses will come to nought however, if equivalent time, energy and bright ideas are not invested in updating and refreshing experienced nurses.
  • (12) One nice second-half run ended in too-late pass to May Steven Naismith 7 Many neat touches, but with England dominating possession he foraged for the ball too far from goal and had little impact on anything much Ikechi Anya 5 Beat Clyne cleverly in eighth minute but ran the ball out of play; attempts to repeat the trick came to nought.
  • (13) If Google had tried to solve the game in the same way noughts and crosses was solved, it would have had to examine and rank an obscene amount of possible positions: in the ballpark of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them.
  • (14) And so both chess and go are resistant to the tactic by which simpler games, such as noughts and crosses or draughts (tic-tac-toe and checkers, to Americans), have been “solved”: by enumerating every possible move, and drawing up rules for how to guarantee that a computer will be able to play to at least a draw.
  • (15) It's like playing roulette: we haven't hit the nought yet but we know we will at some point."
  • (16) But of whence their sovereignty came, the treaty saith nought.
  • (17) "On a risk scale of nought to 10, it was just a one.
  • (18) Almost all the pain of benefit cuts for the most vulnerable has come to nought.
  • (19) Widefeller thumped it behind for a corner, which came to nought.
  • (20) And it turned out all Ryan’s effort was for nought.

Ought


Definition:

  • (n. & adv.) See Aught.
  • (imp., p. p., or auxiliary) Was or were under obligation to pay; owed.
  • (imp., p. p., or auxiliary) Owned; possessed.
  • (imp., p. p., or auxiliary) To be bound in duty or by moral obligation.
  • (imp., p. p., or auxiliary) To be necessary, fit, becoming, or expedient; to behoove; -- in this sense formerly sometimes used impersonally or without a subject expressed.
  • () of Owe

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "I think that we've got to treat our kids well, but I don't think we ought to say there's no place ever for smacks.
  • (2) We recommend, that the term vitelline macular degeneration ought to be used intead of Best's macular degeneration.
  • (3) Van Gaal argued that Huth had grabbed Fellaini’s considerable hair and claimed it ought to have been a penalty but the Football Association’s disciplinary department will surely take action.
  • (4) Authors have previously published April 1988 a lecture where they criticize the bad denomination "passed coma" full of ambiguity for public mind, to which "brain death" ought to be preferred.
  • (5) It has been said that hyperfractionation radiotherapy might be a better treatment for a neuroblastoma than the conventional therapy, however, we would suggest that a modification of the radiotherapy schedule ought to depend on the type of cells, because there are cells which show broad shoulder curves and a strong capacity for repair.
  • (6) They, together with Rosicky, form the group who feel they ought to be getting more playing time but the opportunity to impress passed them by as Arsenal felt the force of Southampton’s endeavour and solidity.
  • (7) Alli almost scored with one of his first touches, denied by Martin Skrtel’s saving clearance, but England really ought to have created more clear chances given the amount of time they had on the ball.
  • (8) Dealing with the special problem of pregnancy in women with the biological disorder, one ought to consider the literature on the subject, showing the large occurrence of ante- and post-natal accidents.
  • (9) The authors suggest that there ought to be limits on the extent to which social and economic considerations in the provision of radiological services should be allowed to compromise sound principles in the radiation protection of the patient.
  • (10) Because it ought to be crystal clear what the BBC has agreed to do as part of its public service remit.
  • (11) There is going to be an urgent government inquiry with recommendations and, frankly the ABC ought to take some very strong action straightaway.” When asked whose heads should roll, Abbott ended the press conference and walked away.
  • (12) No true evangelical ought to be tempted to give such tales any credence whatsoever, no matter how popular they become,” Johnson wrote.
  • (13) On the face of it, Huhne's guilty plea last month on a charge of perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case ought to have killed the Liberal Democrats' hopes of holding the seat.
  • (14) The paper proposes that in post-behaviouristic and post-phenomenological times an integration of frames of reference, designs and methodologies ought to be attempted, notwithstanding serious dissonances, disagreements, and professions-bound interests.
  • (15) Big tumors leading to displacement of intestinal or biliary organs ought to be removed in toto; this allows complete histological work up and exclusion of malignancy, and it does prevent recurrence of the tumor as well.
  • (16) Department of Health officials have made it clear that A&Es ought to share information with police, but a spokesperson admitted it simply did not know how many hospitals were operating the model.
  • (17) It’s more to do with the politics within the Coalition rather than what I think the community wants, which is to get on with this issue to be dealt with where it ought to be dealt with – and I think that’s the fed parliament.” Asked if his party would pass the plebiscite enabling legislation, Xenophon replied: “Right now it’s a no.
  • (18) In practice, there are now two or three classes of shareholders, and the only ones that ought to have the privileges of dividends and decision-making about the future of the companies they are said to own ought to be those that hold on to your shares for the longer term.
  • (19) If the party’s senior members cannot grasp this simple fact, then perhaps they ought to replace the word “Labour” in the party’s name – or cross the floor and join the Conservatives?
  • (20) We insist that its citizens ought to be more virtuous versions of ourselves; when they fall short, our rage is terrible.