no word—no news or communication received:
- It’s been over a month and still no word. So as of now I will never order there again.
not a word—not even one word, spoken or written:
- They seated themselves and ate their breakfast together, and still not a word was said.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the humorous catchphrase not a word to Bessie—(dated) used in circumstances calling for secrecy:
- I had a rather close encounter with the gate … (not a word to Bessie!) but happily the car was unblemished.