📖 N — The English dictionary · page 8

nemesis — Everyday, meaning 1: A nemesis is the thing that brings a person's downfall or punishment, something they deserve for bad deeds.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A nemesis can also be a lasting rival who always defeats you.↗ Example: In the tale, Nemesis punishes the proud king.↗ · His old rival became his nemesis.↗

nenets — Everyday, meaning 1: The Nenets are a people of the Arctic in northern Russia who traditionally herd reindeer.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Nenets is also their language.↗ Example: The Nenets herd reindeer across the tundra.↗ · Nenets families live in tents called chums.↗ · The Nenets travel hundreds of kilometres each year.↗ · Nenets children wear warm reindeer-skin coats.↗ · The Nenets language is related to Finnish and Hungarian.↗ · Gas drilling has changed the Nenets' land.↗

neo — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: A prefix from Greek meaning "new", as in "Neo-Pythagoreans", a later school that revived the ideas of Pythagoras.↗ Example: to Boethius, the Neo-Pythagoreans used as a symbol for zero.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗

neolithic — Everyday, meaning 1: Belonging to the New Stone Age, the last part of the Stone Age, when people began farming, keeping animals, making pottery and polished stone tools, and living in villages; in Britain about 4000 to 2500 BC.↗ Example: Neolithic people grew wheat and kept sheep.↗ · Skara Brae is a Neolithic village in Orkney.↗ · We made Neolithic pots out of clay at school.↗ · Kipling calls Tegumai a Neolithic man.↗ · Neolithic tools were polished stone axes.↗ · The first stage of Stonehenge was built in Neolithic times.↗ · Real writing came after the Neolithic.↗

neon — Everyday, meaning 1: A gas found in tiny amounts in the air; it has no colour or smell, but glows bright red-orange when electricity passes through it.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Neon lights: bright glowing tube lights used in signs.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (adjective) Very bright, glowing colours, like neon pink or neon green.↗ Example: Neon is a gas in the air we breathe.↗ · The café had a red neon sign in the window.↗ · She wore neon pink trainers.↗ · Neon glows when electricity runs through it.↗ · Wear a neon vest when you cycle at dusk.↗ · Neon is one of the noble gases.↗ · The city was full of neon lights at night.↗

neoteny — Everyday, meaning 1: (science) Keeping young or baby-like features after growing up, in animals or people.↗ Example: The axolotl is a famous example of neoteny.↗ · Neoteny means an animal keeps baby features as an adult.↗ · Some scientists think puppy-like dogs show neoteny.↗ · Our science teacher explained neoteny using salamanders.↗ · Humans show some neoteny compared with chimpanzees.↗ · Because of neoteny, the axolotl keeps its gills.↗ · Neoteny can make adult animals look cute.↗

nepali — Everyday, meaning 1: The main language of Nepal, a country in the Himalaya mountains between India and China.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A person from Nepal (also «Nepalese»).↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (adjective) From or about Nepal: «Nepali food».↗ Example: My friend's family speaks Nepali at home.↗ · Nepali is written in the same script as Hindi.↗ · We ate Nepali momos at the festival.↗ · Many Nepalis live near the mountains.↗ · The Nepali flag is not a rectangle; it has two triangles.↗ · Mount Everest is on the border of Nepal and China.↗

nephew — Everyday, meaning 1: Your nephew is the son of your brother or sister.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Your nephew can also be the son of your husband's or wife's brother or sister.↗ Early Modern English, meaning 1: A grandson, or a male descendant; in old texts also a close younger male relative.↗ Example: My aunt has two nephews: me and my brother.↗ · Uncle Pat took his nephew fishing.↗ · My nephew is only three years old.↗ · She bought presents for all her nephews and nieces.↗ · If you have 3 sisters and each has 2 sons, you have 6 nephews.↗ · My mum's sister's son is her nephew and my cousin.↗ · "My dear nephew," he said, "your story gives me some hope.↗ · "My dear nephew," he said, "your story gives me some hope.↗ (The Arabian Nights Entertainments) · "Your dear little uncle, your very sweet nephew, you call me!↗ (Indian Fairy Tales) · He was nephew to Arthur, the son of his sister, and his cousin.↗ (Celtic Fairy Tales)

nerd — Everyday, meaning 1: (informal, slang) A person who is very interested and clever in one subject, such as computers, science or maths, and knows a lot about it.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (slang, can be unkind) A person thought of as boring or not cool because they study a lot or like unusual hobbies.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (informal, friendly) Used proudly about yourself: «I'm a book nerd».↗ Example: Sam is a total science nerd and knows every planet's moons.↗ · I'm a bit of a book nerd — I read every night.↗ · Don't call him a nerd; it's unkind.↗ · She nerded out about dinosaurs for an hour.↗ · The computer nerds in the film saved the spaceship.↗ · That joke about prime numbers is so nerdy.↗ · Being a nerd just means you really care about something.↗

nerve — Everyday, meaning 1: One of the long thin fibres in the body that carry messages between the brain and other parts, so we can feel and move.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (nerve, uncountable) Courage to do something difficult or scary: «It took nerve to jump».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (nerves) Feeling worried or nervous: «exam nerves».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Rude boldness: «What a nerve!».↗ Everyday, meaning 5: To ache in every nerve means to feel sore and tired all over your body.↗ Example: Nerves carry messages from your skin to your brain.↗ · The dentist numbed the nerve in my tooth.↗ · It took a lot of nerve to sing on stage alone.↗ · She lost her nerve at the top of the diving board.↗ · I always get nerves before a test.↗ · My brother's noisy game gets on my nerves.↗ · He had the nerve to take my seat!↗ · It must have lasted fully two hours, and Little Toomai ached in every nerve, but he knew by the smell of the night air that the dawn was coming.↗

nerves — Everyday, meaning 1: Nerves are thin fibres in your body that carry messages between your brain and other parts of your body, so you can feel and move.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Nerves (informal) means the worried, nervous feeling you get before something important, like a test or a show.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Nerves can mean courage to stay calm in a hard moment, as in «nerves of steel».↗ Example: Nerves carry messages from your skin to your brain.↗ · The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves.↗ · I always get nerves before a test.↗ · Deep breaths help calm your nerves.↗ · His loud chewing gets on my nerves.↗ · The goalkeeper had nerves of steel.↗ · She was a bag of nerves before the concert.↗ · When you touch something hot, your nerves send a signal very fast.↗

nervous — Everyday, meaning 1: Nervous means feeling worried or a little scared about something that is going to happen.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A nervous person or animal is easily frightened or upset.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: The nervous system is the brain, spinal cord and nerves that carry messages around the body.↗ Example: I feel nervous about my test tomorrow.↗ · The new boy was nervous on his first day.↗ · Horses get nervous in thunderstorms.↗ · She gave a nervous laugh.↗ · The nervous system carries messages from the brain.↗ · It's normal to feel nervous before a race.↗ · With a little trouble he found the tree the doctor had described, and, feeling nervous, he climbed up into it.↗

nervously — Everyday, meaning 1: In a worried, slightly afraid way.↗ Example: She smiled nervously at her new class.↗ · He waited nervously outside the head's office.↗ · Alice nervously looked round for the White Rabbit.↗ · The Mole nervously entered the Wild Wood.↗ · The cat sniffed the dog nervously.↗ · He laughed nervously before the test.↗

nervousness — Everyday, meaning 1: Nervousness is the feeling of being worried, uneasy or a bit scared about something that is going to happen.↗ Example: She felt some nervousness before her piano exam.↗ · Deep breaths helped calm my nervousness.↗ · He laughed to hide his nervousness.↗ · Nervousness gave me butterflies in my stomach.↗ · Everyone feels nervousness on the first day of school.↗ · His nervousness made his hands shake.↗ · Practice can reduce nervousness before a performance.↗ · I could hear the nervousness in her voice.↗

nervy — Everyday, meaning 1: (UK, Australia, NZ) Nervous, jumpy and easily worried or frightened.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (US, informal) Bold and cheeky, daring to do things others would not.↗ Example: I always feel a bit nervy before a test.↗ (UK)↗ · The horse was nervy and jumped at every noise.↗ · It was a nervy last five minutes, but we held on to win.↗ · The nervy kitten hid under the sofa.↗ · That was a nervy thing to say to the principal!↗ (US)↗ · He gave a nervy laugh.↗ · She was nervy on her first day at the new school.↗

ness — Everyday, meaning 1: As a suffix, «-ness» is added to an adjective to make a noun that names a quality or state: kind → kindness, happy → happiness, dark → darkness.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: As a word, a ness is a headland, a piece of high land sticking out into the sea; it appears in place names like Dungeness, Sheerness and Loch Ness area names.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (a name) Loch Ness is a long deep lake in Scotland, famous for the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, «Nessie».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (a name) Ness can also be a surname, such as Eliot Ness, an American lawman.↗ Example: Add -ness to «kind» to make «kindness».↗ · Happiness is spelt with an i because the y changes.↗ · The darkness made the forest feel scary.↗ · Dungeness is a ness on the coast of Kent.↗ · We read about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.↗ · Nobody has ever proved that Nessie is real.↗ · Her gentleness made the shy puppy come closer.↗ · «Openness» keeps both n's: open + ness.↗ · One of these soldiers was a no-ble-man, whom everybody loved for his gen-tle-ness and kindness.↗

nest — Everyday, meaning 1: A nest is a home that birds build to lay their eggs and raise their young.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Other animals make nests too: wasps, ants, mice and squirrels.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To nest means to build or live in a nest.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Things that nest fit inside each other, like nesting dolls or bowls.↗ Example: A robin built a nest in our hedge.↗ · There are three blue eggs in the nest.↗ · Don't poke a wasp nest; the wasps will sting you.↗ · The baby birds left the nest when they could fly.↗ · Squirrels make nests called dreys high in the trees.↗ · We put up a nesting box in the garden.↗ · Don't disturb birds when they are nesting.↗ · The little bowls nest inside each other to save space.↗ · "This is my nest," I said.↗ · As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions — (Torah DEU.32.11, JPS 1917)↗ · And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said: Though firm be thy dwelling-place, and though thy nest be set in the rock; (Torah NUM.24.21, JPS 1917)↗ · Doth the vulture mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?↗ (Writings JOB.39.27, JPS 1917)↗ · Wherein the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.↗ (Writings PSA.104.17, JPS 1917)↗ · As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.↗ (Writings PRO.27.8, JPS 1917)↗

nestle — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: A surname.↗ Here it refers to the scholar Nestle, whose works are named in the footnotes.↗ Example: ") See Nestle in Hasting's Bi/i/e Diclionnry, vol IV, p 542.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗ · '"Die Weltkugel besteht aus fuenf Koerpern: dies sind innerhalb der Kugel Feuer, Wasser, Erde, Luft und ausserdem fuenftens das Gehaeuse der Kugel selbst."↗ (Nestle, Die For- sokratiker.↗ (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗

nestled — Everyday, meaning 1: To nestle is to settle snugly close to someone or something: the child nestled closer to the old man.↗ Example: The chick nestled under its mother's wing.↗ · The child nestled closer to the fire.↗ · O inhabitant of Lebanon, that art nestled in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!↗ (Prophets JER.22.23, JPS 1917)↗

nestling — Everyday, meaning 1: (noun) A baby bird too young to leave the nest.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (verb) Settling snugly and comfortably, as in "nestling under a blanket".↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) Lying in a sheltered place, as in "a village nestling in the valley".↗ Example: The nestlings opened their beaks wide for food.↗ · A nestling has few feathers and cannot fly.↗ · The village lay nestling in the green valley.↗ · The puppy was nestling against its mother.↗ · We watched the robin feed its nestlings.↗ · The cottage stood nestling under tall trees.↗ · If you find a nestling on the ground, ask an adult or a wildlife centre for help.↗ · When the man awoke in the morning he was much surprised to find the boy nestling up close to him.↗

net — Everyday, meaning 1: A material made of string, thread or wire tied together with holes in between, or a thing made of it, like a fishing net, a butterfly net or a goal net.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: The net (or the Net) is short for the internet.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In maths, a net is a flat shape that can be folded to make a 3D shape.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: As an adjective, net means what is left after taking things away, like net weight (without the packaging).↗ Everyday, meaning 5: As a verb, to net is to catch in a net, or to score a goal.↗ Example: We used a net to catch tadpoles in the pond.↗ · This is the net of a cube: six squares joined together.↗ · The ball hit the back of the net.↗ · The tennis ball hit the net and bounced back.↗ · Draw a net for a triangular prism.↗ · The net weight of the cereal is 500 g.↗ · Fishermen pulled in their nets full of fish.↗ · She netted two goals in the match.↗ · SOME FISHERMEN were out trawling their nets.↗ · And thou shalt put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar.↗ (Torah EXO.27.5, JPS 1917)↗ · And thou shalt make for it a grating of network of brass; and upon the net shalt thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof.↗ (Torah EXO.27.4, JPS 1917)↗ · Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst I withal escape.↗ (Writings PSA.141.10, JPS 1917)↗ · A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his steps.↗ (Writings PRO.29.5, JPS 1917)↗ · For in vain the net is spread in the eyes of any bird; (Writings PRO.1.17, JPS 1917)↗