Adjacent Words

Neat definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NEAT, n. [Neat coincides with the root of need in elements, and if connected with it, the sense is a herd or collection, from crowding, pressing; but this is doubtful.]
1. Cattle of the bovine genus, as bulls, oxen and cows. In America, this word is used in composition, as in neats tongue, neats foot oil, and tautologically in neat cattle.
2. A single cow.
NEAT, a. [L. to shine, to be clean, fair or fine; pure, to purify, to winnow.]
1. Very clean; free from foul or extraneous matter; as neat clothes. The vessels are kept neat; the woman keeps her house very neat.
2. Pure; free from impure words and phrases; as a neat style.
3. Cleanly; preserving neatness; as a neat woman.
4. Pure; unadulterated; as neat wine.
5. Free from tawdry appendages and well adjusted; as a neat dress.
6. Clear of the cask, case, bag, box, _ c. ; as neat weight. It is usually written net or nett.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: clean or organized; "her neat dress"; "a neat room" [syn: neat, orderly]
2: showing care in execution; "neat homework"; "neat handwriting"
3: free from what is tawdry or unbecoming; "a neat style"; "a neat set of rules"; "she hated to have her neat plans upset" [syn: neat, refined, tasteful]
4: free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed; "he landed a clean left on his opponent's cheek"; "a clean throw"; "the neat exactness of the surgeon's knife" [syn: clean, neat]
5: very good; "he did a bully job"; "a neat sports car"; "had a great time at the party"; "you look simply smashing" [syn: bang-up, bully, corking, cracking, dandy, great, groovy, keen, neat, nifty, not bad, peachy, slap-up, swell, smashing]
6: without water; "took his whiskey neat" [syn: neat, straight, full-strength]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural neat or neats) Etymology: Middle English neet, from Old English n?at; akin to Old High German n?z head of cattle, Old English n?otan to make use of, Lithuanian nauda use Date: before 12th century the common domestic bovine (Bos taurus) II. adjective Etymology: Middle French net, from Latin nitidus bright, neat, from nit?re to shine; probably akin to Middle Irish níam luster Date: 1542 1. free from dirt and disorder ; habitually clean and orderly 2. a. free from admixture or dilution ; straight <neat brandy> <neat cement> b. free from irregularity ; smooth <neat silk> 3. marked by tasteful simplicity <a neat outfit> 4. a. precise, systematic b. marked by skill or ingenuity ; adroit 5. net <neat profit> 6. fine, admirable • neatly adverb • neatness noun III. adverb Date: 1649 1. in a neat manner <his hair combed back neat — J. M. Cain> 2. without admixture or dilution ; straight

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. adj. 1 tidy and methodical. 2 elegantly simple in form etc.; well-proportioned. 3 (of language, style, etc.) brief, clear, and pointed; epigrammatic. 4 a cleverly executed (a neat piece of work). b deft; dextrous. 5 (of esp. alcoholic liquor) undiluted. 6 US sl. (as a general term of approval) good, pleasing, excellent. Derivatives: neatly adv. neatness n. Etymology: F net f. L nitidus shining f. nitere shine 2. n. archaic 1 a bovine animal. 2 (as pl.) cattle. Phrases and idioms: neat's-foot oil oil made from boiled cow-heel and used to dress leather. Etymology: OE neat f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Neat Neat, n. sing. & pl. [AS. ne['a]t; akin to OHG. n?z, Icel. naut, Sw. n["o]t, Dan. n["o]d, and to AS. ne['o]tan to make use of, G. geniessen, Goth. niutan to have a share in, have joy of, Lith. nauda use, profit.] (Zo["o]l.) Cattle of the genus Bos, as distinguished from horses, sheep, and goats; an animal of the genus Bos; as, a neat's tongue; a neat's foot. --Chaucer. Wherein the herds[men] were keeping of their neat. --Spenser. The steer, the heifer, and the calf Are all called neat. --Shak. A neat and a sheep of his own. --Tusser. Neat's-foot, an oil obtained by boiling the feet of neat cattle. It is used to render leather soft and pliable.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Neat Neat, a. [See neat, n.] Of or pertaining to the genus Bos, or to cattle of that genus; as, neat cattle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Neat Neat, a. [Compar. Neater; superl. Neatest.] [OE. nett, F. nett, fr. L. nitidus, fr. nitere to shine. Cf. Nitid, Net, a., Natty.] 1. Free from that which soils, defiles, or disorders; clean; cleanly; tidy. If you were to see her, you would wonder what poor body it was that was so surprisingly neat and clean. --Law. 2. Free from what is unbecoming, inappropriate, or tawdry; simple and becoming; pleasing with simplicity; tasteful; chaste; as, a neat style; a neat dress. 3. Free from admixture or adulteration; good of its kind; as, neat brandy. ``Our old wine neat.'' --Chapman. 4. Excellent in character, skill, or performance, etc.; nice; finished; adroit; as, a neat design; a neat thief. 5. With all deductions or allowances made; net. Note: [In this sense usually written net. See Net, a., 3.] neat line (Civil Engin.), a line to which work is to be built or formed. Neat work, work built or formed to neat lines. Syn: Nice; pure; cleanly; tidy; trim; spruce.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(neater, neatest) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A neat place, thing, or person is tidy and smart, and has everything in the correct place. She undressed and put her wet clothes in a neat pile in the corner. ...a girl in a neat grey flannel suit... Everything was neat and tidy and gleamingly clean. ADJ: usu ADJ n • neatly He folded his paper neatly and sipped his coffee... At the door was a neatly dressed, dignified man. = tidily ADV: ADV with v • neatness The grounds were a perfect balance between neatness and natural wildness. = tidiness 2. Someone who is neat keeps their home or possessions tidy, with everything in the correct place. 'That's not like Alf,' he said, 'leaving papers muddled like that. He's always so neat.' = tidy ? untidy ADJ • neatly He had maybe a thousand tapes, all neatly labelled and catalogued. = tidily ADV: ADV with v • neatness ...a paragon of neatness, efficiency and reliability. = tidiness 3. A neat object, part of the body, or shape is quite small and has a smooth outline. ...a faded woman with neat features. ...neat handwriting. ADJ: usu ADJ n • neatly She was a small woman, slender and neatly made. ADV: ADV -ed 4. A neat movement or action is done accurately and skilfully, with no unnecessary movements. A neat move between Black and Keane left Nigel Clough in the clear, but his shot skimmed wide of the far post. ? clumsy ADJ: usu ADJ n • neatly He watched her peel and dissect a pear neatly, no mess, no sticky fingers. ? clumsily ADV: ADV with v 5. A neat way of organizing, achieving, explaining, or expressing something is clever and convenient. It had been such a neat, clever plan... Neat solutions are not easily found to these issues... = nice ADJ • neatly Real people do not fit neatly into these categories... = nicely ADV: ADV with v • neatness He knew full well he had been outflanked, and he appreciated the neatness of it. 6. If you say that something is neat , you mean that it is very good. (AM INFORMAL) 'Oh, those new apartments are really neat,' the girl babbled on... It'll be neat to have a father and son playing on the same team... = great, cool ADJ [approval] 7. When someone drinks strong alcohol neat, they do not add a weaker liquid such as water to it. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use straight) He poured himself a brandy and swallowed it neat... He took a mouthful of neat whisky, and coughed. ADJ: v n ADJ, ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Clean, cleanly, unsoiled, orderly, trim, tidy. 2. Nice, spruce, trim, smart. 3. Chaste, simple, pure. 4. Pure, unadulterated, unmixed, excellent. 5. Exact, finished, adroit, clever. 6. Nice, dainty. 7. Net, clear, after every deduction.

Moby Thesaurus

Attic, Ciceronian, Daedalian, OK, Spartan, absolute, ace-high, adept, adroit, all ataunto, anal, apt, artistic, ascetic, ataunt, austere, authoritative, bad, bald, bang-up, bare, bonzer, boss, bravura, braw, brilliant, bully, bungup and bilge-free, but good, calligraphic, candid, capital, chaste, chic, chipper, clarified, classic, classy, clean, clean-cut, clear, clever, clothes-conscious, comely, common, commonplace, cool, coordinated, copperplate, corking, cosmopolitan, crack, crackerjack, cunning, cute, daedal, dandy, dapper, dashing, deft, delicious, dexterous, dextrous, dinky, diplomatic, direct, distilled, dressed to advantage, dressed to kill, dry, ducky, dull, easy, efficient, elegant, excellent, exceptional, expert, exquisite, fab, fancy, fastidious, fine, fine and dandy, finished, first-class, frank, gear, genteel, good, goodish, graceful, gracile, grand, great, groovy, handy, heavy, homely, homespun, hot, hunky-dory, ingenious, jam-up, jaunty, just dandy, keen, lean, limpid, lucid, magisterial, marvy, masterful, masterly, matter-of-fact, mean, naked, natty, natural, nifty, no mean, nobby, okay, on the rocks, open, orderly, organized, out of sight, peachy, peachy-keen, pellucid, perspicuous, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, polished, politic, posh, precise, prim, professional, proficient, prosaic, prosing, prosy, pure, purified, quick, quite some, ready, recherche, rectified, refined, regular, resourceful, restrained, ripping, ritzy, round, rum, rustic, scrumptious, severe, shapely, sharp, sheer, shipshape, simple, simple-speaking, skillful, slap-up, sleek, slick, smart, smashing, smug, snazzy, snug, sober, soigne, soignee, solid, some, something else, sophisticated, spare, spick and span, spiffing, spiffy, splendid, spruce, stark, statesmanlike, straight, straightforward, stunning, style-conscious, stylish, super, swank, swanky, swell, systematic, tactful, tasteful, taut, terse, the compleat, the complete, tidy, tight, top-hole, top-notch, topping, tough, tricksy, trig, trim, unadorned, unadulterated, unaffected, unalloyed, unblended, uncluttered, uncombined, uncomplicated, uncompounded, uncorrupted, uncut, undiluted, unembellished, unfortified, unimaginative, unlabored, unleavened, unmingled, unmixed, unornamented, unpoetical, unsophisticated, untinged, unvarnished, virtuoso, well-cared-for, well-done, well-dressed, well-favored, well-formed, well-groomed, well-made, well-ordered, well-proportioned, well-shaped, wizard, wonderful, workmanlike