Dictionary

no sooner than en · ADP

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see no, sooner, than.
- He will arrive no sooner than ten o'clock.
- Near-synonym: after

At the moment when; instantaneously after; immediately after.
- Near-synonyms: immediately, instantly, hardly
- No sooner had he arrived than the others grew talkative.
- He had prepared such a fine pedestal for her, draped her in so many beautiful illusions. But if she was an elf, there was no keeping an elf on a pedestal. No sooner had he arranged her there nicely, than off she flopped in her elfish way, scattering the illusions he had attached to her, as it were, a Salome shedding her seven veils. So he fluttered between his beliefs and doubtings. [1921?], John Cournos, “Circe”, in The Wall, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.; New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, chapter VIII, section I, page 207:
- No sooner did the act become law than it operated to relieve the railways from competition 1892 June 14, Appleton Morgan, “Wanted: A Railway Court of Last Resort”, in Popular Science Monthly:
- She'd no sooner passed her driving test than/when her family started asking for lifts.
(idiomatic) Used to indicate that the second action mentioned is as likely as, or is preferred to, the first action mentioned.
- I'd no sooner shop at their store than jump in a lake.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see no, sooner, than.
- He will arrive no sooner than I will.