neat 
4. Characterized by nicety of appearance, con- 
struction, arrangement, etc.; nice; hence, or- 
derly; trim; tidy; often, specifically, clean: as, 
a neat box; the apartment was always very 
neat; neat in one's dress. 
These [elephants] have neat little boarded Houses or 
Castles fastened on their backs, where the great men sit in 
state, secur'd from the Sun or Rain. 
J)ampier, Voyages, II. i. 73. 
Her artless manners and her neat attire. 
Cowper, Task, IT. 536. 
5. Well-shaped or well-proportioned; clean- 
cut : as, a neat foot and ankle. 6. Complete in 
character, skill, etc.; exact; finished; adroit; 
clever; skilful: applied to persons or things. 
Men. To be a villain is no such rude matter. 
Cam. No, if he be a neat one, and a perfect : 
Art makes all excellent. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, i. 2. 
Paddy overtook him at last, and gave him a clippeen on 
the left ear, and a neat touch of the foot that sent him 
sprawling. Leoer, Dodd Family Abroad, I. letter i. 
The neat repartee, the eloquence that left the House 
too profoundly affected to deliberate, the original of the 
novelist's greatest creation they are all vanishing like 
frost foliage at sunrise. 
0. W. Curtis, Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 472. 
7f. Spruce; finical; over-nice. 
Still to be neat, still to be drest 
As you were going to a feast 
B. Jonson, Epicrane, i. 1. 
8f. A commendatory word, used somewhat 
vaguely. 
To tell what dressing up of howses there were by all the 
neat dames and ladies within the freedome. 
Dekker, Oration of Parsimony. 
This gentleman did take to wife 
A neat and gallant dame. 
Genilemanin Thracia (Child's Ballads, VIII. 150). 
= Syn. Clean, cleanly, unsoiled. 
neat 2 (net), adv. [< neafi, a.] Neatly. 
They've ta'en her out at nine at night, . . . 
And headed her baith neat and fine. 
The Laird of Waristoun (Child's Ballads, III. 322). 
'neath (neth), adr. An abbreviated form of 
beneath. 
neat-handed (net'han"ded), a. Using the 
hands with neatness ; deft ; dexterous. 
Herbs, and other country messes, 
Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses. 
Milton, L'Allegro, 1. 86. 
Nor is he [Bishop Burnet] a neat-handed workman even 
of that [penny-a-liner] class. Craik, Hist. Eng. Lit., II. 177. 
neatherd (net'herd), w. [\ ME. neetherde, net- 
herde; < neat 1 + herd 1 . Cf. noutherd.] A per- 
son who has the care of cattle ; a cow-keeper. 
Would I were 
A neat-herd's daughter. 
5Aot.,Cymbeline, i. 1. 149. 
neatherdess (net'herd-es), . [< neatherd + 
-ess.] A female neatherd ; a neatress. 
But hark how I can now expresse 
My love unto my Neatherdesse. 
Herrick, A Beucolick, or Discourse of Neatherds. 
neat-houset (net'hous), . [< neat 1 + house.] 
A house for neat cattle ; a cow-house. 
neatifyt (ne'ti-fi), v. t. Same as netify. 
neat-land (net'laud), . [< neat 1 + land 1 .'] 
In law, land let out to yeomanry. Cowell. 
neatly (net'li), adv. In a neat manner; with 
neatness, in any sense of that word. 
neatness (net'nes), n. The state or quality of 
being neat, in any sense of that word. 
neatresst (net'res), n. [Irreg. < neat 1 + -er 1 + 
-ess.] A female neatherd. (Tamer, Albion's 
England, iv. 20. 
neb (neb), n. [Also in mod. use in var. form 
nib; < ME. neb, < AS. neb, nebb, bill, beak (of 
a bird, ship, plow, etc.), nose, of a person, also 
face, countenance, = D. neb, mouth, bill, nib, 
= MLG. nebbe, nibbe, LG. nibbe, Hipp, niff, niiff 
(> It. niffo, niffa, snout) = Icel. nef, also nebbi = 
Sw. naf, n&bb = Dan. nosb, beak, bill; prob. 
orig. *sneb; cf. MD. snebbe, D. sneb = MLG. 
snebbe, snibbe, LG. snibbe, snippe, bill, snout, = 
G.schneppe, nozle; also with dim. term., OPries. 
snavel, snarl, mouth, = D. snavel, snout, = MLG. 
snavel = OHG. snabul, MHG. snabel, G. schnabel 
= Dan. Sw. (after G. ) snabel, bill, snout, probos- 
cis, nozle ; cf . Lith. snapas, bill, beak ; perhaps 
from the root of the verb snap, but whether 
orig. the bill of a bird or snout of a beast, 
which 'snaps' up what is to be eaten, or the 
snout of a beast or nose of a man, which ' snorts ' 
or 'sniffs' (G. schnappen, gasp, schnauben, 
snort, sniff, snuff), is not clear. See snap, 
sniff, snuff, snivel, etc.] 1. The bill or beak of 
a bird ; also, the snout or muzzle of a beast. 
How she holds up the neb, the bill, to him ! 
And arms her with the boldness of a wife 
To her allowing husband ! Shak., W. T., i. 2. 183. 
3950 
The amorous worms of love did bitterly gnawe and teare 
his heart wyth the nebs of their forked heads. 
Painter's Pal. of PI., cited by Steevens. (Nares.) 
2. The nose : as, a lang neb ; a sharp neb. [Ob- 
solete or Scotch.] 
See, yonder 's the Katton's Skerry ; he aye held his neb 
abune the water in my day, but he 's aneath it now. 
Scott, Antiquary, vii. 
3. The face. [Obsolete or Scotch.] 
Josep cam into halle and sau his brethren wepe ; 
He kisseth Benjamin, anon his neb he gan wipe. 
MS. Bodl. 652, f. 10. (HaUmeli.) 
4. The tip end of anything; a sharp point: as, 
the neb of a lancet or knife. See nib. [Scotch.] 
5. The nib of a pen. See nib. 
Those pennes are made of purpose without nebs, because 
they may cast inck but slowly. 
Dekker, Lanthorne and Candle-light, 
Neb and feather, completely ; from top to toe. [Scotch. ] 
To dab nebst. See dobi. 
Nebalia (ne-ba'li-a), n. [NL. ; origin not 
ascertained'.] 1. A remarkable genus of un- 
certain position among the lower crustaceans, 
ranged by Huxley among the phyllopodous 
Branchiopoda, by others in a peculiar order 
named l*liyllocarida or Leptostraca. It has a large 
carapace (cephalostegite) with mobile rostrum ; the eyes 
are large and pedunculated ; there are well-developed 
antennte, mandibles, and two pairs of maxillse, the anterior 
of which ends in a long palp. 
2. A genus of rotifers. Grube, 1862. 
nebalian (ne-ba'li-an), a. and TO. I. a. Per- 
taining to or having the characters of the ge- 
nus Nebalia, 1. 
II. n. A nebalian crustacean. 
Nebaliidae (neb-a-ll'i-de), n. pi. [< Nebalia + 
-idte. ] A family of crustaceans, typified by the 
genus Nebalia. It has been variously located in the 
systems, and is now usually considered a synthetic type 
nearly related to some Silurian forms, and representa- 
tive of an order or suborder named Phijllocarida or Lepto- 
straca. The anterior part of the body has a large com- 
pressed bivalvular carapace with a separate anterior 
tongue-shaped process ; the abdomen is long and seg- 
mented ; there are eight pairs of phyllopodous legs to the 
trunk, four pairs of large pleopods behind, and no telson. 
The living species are marine, and have been referred to 
3 genera. 
nebbuk-tree (neb'uk-tre), n. [< Ar. nebbuTc + 
E. tree.'] A shrub, Zizyphus Spina-Christi, one 
of the Christ's-thorns. 
The channels of streams around Jericho are filled with 
nebbuk trees. ... It is a variety of the rhamnus, and is 
set down by botanists as the Spina Christi, of which the Sa- 
viour's mock crown of thorns was made. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 68. 
nebby (neb'i), a. [< neb + -y 1 .] Snappish; 
saucy; impudent; bold; pert. [Scotch.] 
nebel (neb el), w. [Heb.] A stringed instru- 
ment of the ancient Hebrews, by some supposed 
to have resembled a harp, by others a lute. The 
name is differently rendered in different parts 
of the English version of the Bible. 
neb-neb (neb'neb), n. See bablah. 
Nebraskan (ne-bras'kan), a. and n. [< Nebraska 
(see def.) + -an.'] I. a. Of or pertainingto the 
State of Nebraska, or its inhabitants. 
II. n. A native or an inhabitant of Nebraska, 
one of the Western States of the United States, 
lying west of the Missouri river and north of 
Kansas. 
nebris (neb'ris), n. [L. nebris, < Gr. ve[}pif, a fawn- 
skin (see def.), < ve/lp6f, a fawn.] A fawn-skin ; 
specifically, in ancient Greek and affiliated art 
and ceremonial, the skin of a fawn or of a sim- 
ilar animal, as a kid, worn as a special attribute 
by Dionysus or Bacchus and his attendant 
train (Pan, the satyrs, the maanads, etc.), and 
assumed on festival occasions by priests and 
priestesses of Bacchus, and by his votaries gen- 
erally. 
nebula (neb'u-la), n. ; pi. nebulee (-le). [< L. ne- 
bula = Gr. vttyi'f.ri, a cloud, mist, vapor: see neb- 
ule.] 1. A luminous patch in the heavens, far 
beyond the limits of the solar system. Some 
nebulae are resolvable into clusters, generally globular, in 
which the separate stars can be distinguished. These are 
for the most part in the Galaxy. The remaining nebuUe are 
of two types, according as their spectra are continuous 
or consist of bright lines. The latter class are greenish- 
blue, have fairly definite outlines, and show a tendency to 
concentration toward the galactic circle. Of the three 
brightest lines in their spectra two are unidentified, and 
one is the F line of hydrogen. There are six or seven 
other faint lines, two of them hydrogen. There are besides 
nebulous stars, or stars with haze about them which in 
some cases is of vast proportions. The continuous spectra 
indicate that all these nebulae are solid, liquid, or, if gase- 
ous, enormously condensed. The nebulae in Andromeda, 
Orion, and Argo are visible to the naked eye. The Galaxy, 
the Magellanic clouds, and the clusters Berenice's Hair 
and Preesepe are not included by astronomers among the 
nebula;. 
2. In patkol., a cloud-like spot on the cornea. 
Dumb-bell nebula, a nebula which, seen in a telescope of 
A Hesse NobuU. 
nece 
small power, appears to have a form like a dumb-bell in- 
scribed in a fainter ellipse, but with a more powerful in- 
strument is seen to have a spiral structure. Planetary 
nebula, a circular or elliptical gaseous nebula, with a well- 
defined outline. Resolvable nebula., a nebula in which 
a powerful telescope detects many points of light, which, 
however, are not usually distinguished as perfectly as in a 
cluster. Ring nebula, or annular nebula, a nebula 
which appears like a ring with a dark center. Spiral 
nebula, a nebula which presents the appearance either 
of a contorted stream or of a number of such streams pro- 
ceeding from a center. 
nebular (neb'u-liir), a. [= F. nebulaire, < NL. 
iiebularis, < L, 'nebula, a cloud: see nebule.] 1. 
Like a nebula; cloudy. 2. Pertaining or re- 
lating to a nebula The nebular hypothesis, a the- 
ory of the formation of the solar system, originated by the 
philosopher Kant and the astronomer Sir William Her- 
schel, and developed by Laplace and others. The solar 
system is supposed to be the result of the gradual con- 
densation of a nebula under the action of the mutual gravi- 
tation of its parts. 
nebule (neb'ul), n. [< ME. nebule, <. OF. nebula 
= It. nebula, < L. nebula, a cloud, a mist, vapor, 
= Gr. vefy&n, a cloud, mass of clouds, = OS. 
nebhal = OFries. nevil = D. nevel = MLG. nevel, 
neffel, LG. nevel = OHG. nebul, nepol, MHG. G. 
nebel = Icel. nifi (in comp. ), mist, fog ; cf . Icel. 
njol, night.] If. A cloud. 
light without nebule, shining in thy sphere. 
Ballade in Commend: of Our Lady. 
The stocking is of silver tissue, worked with gold birds, 
flowers, blue, yellow, and white, and a peculiar ornament 
& nebule, white and blue, with yellow rays shooting from 
its edge. Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii. 251. 
2. In her., a line nebu!6. See nebule. 
nebule (neb-u-la' ), a. [Heraldic F. , < OF. nebule, 
a cloud: see nebule.'] In her., 
wavy ; curved in and out, in fan- 
cied resemblance to the edge of 
a cloud. A line nebu!6 may 
form the boundary of a fesse, 
bend, etc. Also nebulose, nebuly. 
nebuliferous (neb-u-lif'e-rus), 
a. [< L. nebula, a , cloud, -r-ferre 
= E. bear 1 .'] Having nebulous or cloudy spots. 
Thomas, Med. Diet. 
nebulist (neb'u-list), n. [< nebula + -ist.~] One 
who upholds the nebular hypothesis. Page. 
nebulize (neb'u-Hz), v. t. ; pret. and pp. neb- 
ulized, ppr. nebulizing. [< nebule + -ize.] To 
reduce to a spray ; atomize. 
nebulizer (neb'u-H-zer), n. An instrument for 
reducing a liquid to spray, for inhalation, disin- 
fection, etc. ; an atomizer. 
The spray from a ... nebulizer being made to impinge 
upon the wall of the vessel containing the tubes and liquid. 
Medical Newt, XLIX. 697. 
nebulose (neb'u-los), . [< L. nebulosus, misty: 
see nebulous,] 1. Cloudy; foggy; nebulous. 
Alle fatty, weet, & cloudy nebulose. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 175. 
2. In en torn. , having indistinct darker and paler 
markings, resembling the irregular coloring of 
a cloud: said of a surface. 3. In her., same as 
nebule. 
nebulosity (neb-u-los'i-ti), n.; pi. nebulosities 
(-tiz). [= F. nebulositS = Sp. nebulosidad = 
Pg. nebulosidade = It. nebulosita, < LL. nebu- 
losita(t-)s, cloudiness, obscurity, < L. nebulosus, 
cloudy: see nebulous."] 1. The state of being 
nebulous or cloudy; cloudiness; haziness; the 
essential character of a nebula. 
All the material ingredients of the earth existed in this 
diffuse nebulosity, either in the state of vapour, or in some 
state of still greater expansion. Whewell. 
2. The faint misty appearance surrounding cer- 
tain stars ; an ill-defined nebula without local 
condensation ; also, a nebula in general. 
Various connected nebulosities stretching in marvellous 
ramifications along the heavens. 
J. N. Lockyer, Harper's Mag., LXXV1H. 590. 
A nebulosity of the milky kind, like that wonderful, in- 
explicable phenomenon about 8 Orionis. 
A. M. Clerke, Astron. in 19th Cent, p. 29. 
nebulous (neb'u-lus), a. [= F. nebuleux = Sp. 
Pg. It. nebuloso, < L. nebulosus, cloudy, misty, 
foggy, <nebula,mist, cloud: see nebula, nebule.'] 
1. Cloudy; hazy: used literally or figuratively. 
Epicurus is impatient of the nebulous regions which only 
exist, according to him, for highly sensitive and senti- 
mental souls. W. Wallace, Epicureanism, p. 146. 
2. In astron., pertaining to a nebula; having 
the appearance of a nebula; nebular Nebu- 
lous Star. See nebula. 
nebulousness (neb'u-lus-nes), . The state or 
quality of being nebulous ; cloudiness. 
nebuly (neb'u-li), (i. [< heraldic F. nebule: 
see nebule.'] Same as nebule Nebuly molding. 
See molding. 
necet, A Middle English form of niece. 
