nigger 
pecially by youths just come from home, and somewhat 
intoxicated by sudden power. Contemporary Rev., L. 75. 
I have no doubt . . . that Karslake and his men had 
potted nvniers in their time. 
Mrs. Campbell Praed, The Head-Station, p. 129. 
The blacke king of Xeagen. 
Dekker, Bankrout's Banquet. 
3. A black caterpillar, the larva of A thalia cen- 
tifoliit, the turnip saw-fly. 4. A kind of holo- 
thurian common off the coast of Cornwall, Eng- 
land: so called by Cornish fishermen. 5. A 
steam-capstan on some Mississippi river boats, 
used to haul the boat over bars and snags by a 
rope fastened to a tree on the bank. 6. A strong 
iron-bound timber with sharp teeth or spikes 
protruding from its front face, forming part of 
the machinery of a sawmill, and used in cant- 
ing logs, etc. 7. An impurity in the covering 
of an electrical conductor which serves to make 
a partial short circuit, and thus becomes suf- 
ficiently heated to burn and destroy the insula- 
tion. [Colloq.] 
The consequence of neglect [in examining a wire] might 
be that what the workmen call a nigger would get into the 
armature, and burn it so as to destroy its service. 
Sri. Amer., N. S., LIV. 308. 
nigger 2 (nig'er), v. t. [< nigger 2 , n. The ref. 
in def. 1 is to the blackened logs; in def. 2 to 
the imperfect methods of agriculture followed 
by negroes.] 1. To burn (logs already charred 
or left unconsumed by former fires) : with off: 
also, to burn (a log) in two in the middle. [Lo- 
cal, U. S. and Canada.] 
They niggered the huge logs off with flre, which was 
kept burning for days. 
Stephen Powers, in "Country Gentleman." 
2. To exhaust (soil or land) by working it year 
after year without manure: with out. S. De 
Vere, Americanisms, p. 11.6. [Local, U. S.] 
niggerdom (nig'er-dum), n. [< nigger 2 + -dom.] 
Niggers collectively. 
Swarming with infant niggerdom. 
W. H. Russell, My Diary, L 123. (Encyc. Diet.) 
nigger-fish (nig'er-fish), . A serranoid fish, 
Epincphehis or Enneacentrws punctatus, of an 
olivaceous yellower red color, relieved by small 
round blue spots, with one or two dark spots 
on the tip of the chin and one on the caudal 
peduncle. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and along 
the coast of Florida. It is one of the groupers, and is also 
called butter-Jish and cony. 
niggerhair (nig'er-har), n. A seaweed, Poly- 
siplinnia Hari'eyi. 
niggerhead (nig'er-hed), n. 1. An inferior 
kind of tobacco pressed in a twisted form. 
2. A rounded boulder or rock; especially, a 
roundish black rock on the coast of Florida, 
sometimes covered with only a few inches of 
water. 
niggerish (nig'er-ish), a. [< nigger 2 + -ish 1 .] 
Pertaining to or characteristic of a nigger. 
When I say "colored," I mean one thing, respectfully, 
and when I say niggerish, I mean another, disgustedly. 
The Atlantic, XVIII. 79. 
nigger-killer (nig'er-kil"er), n. The whip-tailed 
scorpion : same as grampus, 6. [Florida.] 
niggerling (nig'er-ling), n. [< nigger 2 + -lingl.] 
A little nigger. 
All the little Niggerlings emerge 
As lily-white as mussels. Hood, A Black Job. 
"Oh see!" quoth he, "those niggerlingi three, 
Who have just got emancipation." 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 395. 
niggery (nig'er-i), a. [< nigger* + -y 1 .] Nig- 
gerish. [Colloq.] 
The dialect of the entire population is essentially and 
unmistakably niggery. Sew York Tribune, May, 1862. 
niggett, ". See nidget. 
niggisht (nig'ish), a. [< nigl + -ish^.] Nig- 
gardly; stingy; mean. 
Nothing is distributed after a niggish sort, neither is 
there any poor man or beggar. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 12. 
niggle (nig'l), v. [Appar. freq. of nig 2 , v.; 
but cf. AS. hnyglan, hnygela, shreds, parings. 
As in nig 2 , two or more words may be ult. con- 
cerned. The history is scant.] I. intrans. 1. 
To eat sparingly; nibble. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 2f. To act in a mincing manner ; work 
in a finicking, fussy way. 3. To trifle; be 
employed in trifling or petty carping. 
Take heed, daughter, 
You niggle not with your conscience. 
Massinger, Emperor of the East, v. 3. 
Niggling articles, which enumerate the mistakes and 
misstatements of a book, ignoring the fact that, with much 
carelessness of detail, the author has shown a great grasp 
of knowledge of his subject. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 53. 
3990 
4. To fret ; complain of trifles. Halliirell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
II. trims. If.Todrawout unwillingly; squeeze 
out or hand out slyly. 
I had but one poor penny, and that I was glad to nig- 
gle out, and buy a holly-wand to grace him through the 
streets. Dekker and Uiddletou, Honest Whore, pt. ii. 
2. To play with contemptuously ; make sport 
or game of ; mock ; deceive. 
I shall so niggle you 
And juggle you. Fletcher, Pilgrim, iv. 3. 
3. To fill with excess of details; over-elaborate, 
niggle (nig'l), n. [<niggle,v.] Small cramped 
handwriting; a scribble; a scrawl. 
Sometimes it Is a little close niggle. 
T. Hood, Tylney Hall, Int. 
niggler (nig'ler), n. [< niggle + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who niggles or trifles. 2. One who is 
clever and dexterous. Grose. [Prov. Eng.] 
niggling (nig'ling), . [Verbal n. of niggle, >.] 
Finicking, fussy, or over-elaborate work. 
Not a few of us, whatever our code of literary esthetics, 
may find delight, fleeting though it be, in the free outline 
drawing of Cooper, after our eyes are tired by the niggling 
and cross-hatching of many among our contemporary real- 
ists. The Century, XXXVIII. 790. 
niggling (nig'ling), a. [< niggle + -ing 2 .'} 1. 
Mean; contemptible. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
2. Finicking; fussy. 
Titian is said to have painted this highly finished yet 
not niggling picture ["The Tribute-Money"] in order to 
prove to some Germans that the effect of detail could be 
produced without those extreme minutiae which mark the 
style of Albert Durer. Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 41B. 
nigh (nl), adv. and prep. [< ME. nigh, nyijli, 
neigh, nig, nyg, nyge, ney, neg, negh, neh, ny, etc., 
< AS. nedh, neh = OS. nah = OFries. ni, nei = 
I), na = MLG. na, nage, LG. neeg = OHG. nah, 
iidho, MHG. ndke, ndch, nd, G. nahe, adv., nach, 
prep., = Icel. nd- = Goth, nehw, nehwa, nigh, 
near ; prob. akin to enough, AS. genoh, L. nancis- 
ci, reach, Gr. tveyntlv (even-), bear, bring (> r/veK?/;, 
reaching), Skt. / "?> attain. Hence nigh, v., 
neighbor, near^, next, etc.] I. adv. 1. Close at 
hand; not far distant in time or place; at hand; 
near. 
Theire hertes trembled, . . . and [they] seide oon to 
a-nother that the worlde was nygh at an ende. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 393. 
There Nestor the noble Duke was negh at his hond, 
With a company clene in his close halle. 
Destruction of Tray (E. E. T. S.), I. 1948. 
2f. Closely. 
The Reve was a sclendre colerik man ; 
His berd was shave as ny as ever he can. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 588. 
3f. Near the quick ; keenly ; bitterly. 
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, 
That dost not bite so nigh 
As benefits forgot. 
Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. 185. 
4. Nearly; almost; within a little (of being). 
Hue may ney as moche do in a mounthe one 
As goure secret seel in sexscore dayes. 
Piers Plowman (C), iv. 182. 
Brother, now lepe vp lightly, for grete foly haue ye do 
to go so fer oute of cure company, for full nygh hadde ye 
more loste than wonne. Merlin (E. E. T. S.X ii. 196. 
Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea ? 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iii. 2. 82. 
The rustic who, musing vacantly, seems deep in thought 
is not really thinking ; he is pretty nigh unconscious, and 
therefore goes on musing for any length of time without 
weariness. Mauddey, Mind, XII. 498. 
II. prep. Near to ; at no great distance from. 
Pros. But was not this nigh shore? 
Art. Close by, my master. 
Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 216. 
The booke seith that . . . [the town] stode vpon a plain 
grounde, no ther was nother hill ne mounteyne ny it of 
two myle. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 254. 
He wones to nyje the ale-wyffe, 
And he thouht ever fore to thryffe. 
US. Ashmale 61. (Halliwell.) 
But no Cristen man ys not suffered for to come ny it [the 
gate]. Torkington, Diarie of Eng. Travel!, p. 30. 
nigh (ni), a. [< ME. nighe, neighe, etc.; < nigh, 
adv.] 1. Being close at hand; being near. 
She heard a shrilling Trompet sound alowd, 
Signe of nigh battaill, or got victory. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. xli. 1. 
2+. Near in relationship or interest; closely 
allied, as by blood. 
For-thi I conseille the for Cristes sake Clergye that thow 
louye, 
For Kynde Witte is of his kyn and neighe cosynes bothe. 
Piers Plowman (B), xii. 95. 
Whiche two gentylmen be nyghe cosyns vnto mayster 
Vaux and to my lady Guylforde. 
Sir R. Gvylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 6. 
3. Penurious; stingy; close; near: as, a nigh 
customer. [Prov. Eng. and U. S.] 4. On the 
night 
left: as, the nigh horse. [Colloq.] -Nigh naudt. 
See hand. 
nigh (ni), v. [< ME. nyghen, neighen, ntghcn, 
ncigen, ncgen, nyen (= OS. ndliian = OHG. ndhan, 
ndhen, MHG. ntuhen, G. nahen = Goth, nehwjan), 
come nigh; < nigh, adv.] I. intrans. To come 
nigh; draw near; approach. [Obsolete or ar- 
chaic.] 
Yt were better worthy trewely 
A worme to neghen ner my flour than thou. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Good Women, 1. SIS. 
Love gan nyghe me nere. Rom. of the Rose, 1. 1775. 
The joyous time now nighes fast 
That shall alegge this bitter blast. 
Speiiser, Shep. Cal., March. 
The laden heart 
Is persecuted more, and fever'd more, 
When it is nighing to the mournful house 
Where other nearta are sick of the same bruise. 
Keats, Hyperion, Ii. 
Il.t trans. To come near to; approach. 
The saisnes pressed to releve the kynge Sonygrenx, but 
the xlij f elowes hem deffended so that thei myght hym not 
nyegh, and so was he foule troden vndir horse feete. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 215. 
nigh-handt (ni'hand), adv. [< ME. nighliande, 
neighnnd, etc.; < nigh + hand. Cf. near-hand.] 
Nearly. 
The tiding than were tijtly to themperour i-told, 
And he than swoned for sorwe & swelt neijhonde. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1494. 
And whenne that he was come nygh hande therate, 
A fayre mayde ther openyd hym the gate. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), 1. 62. ^ 
nighlyt (m'li), adv. [< ME. "nchliche, < AS. 
*nedhlice, nedlice (= OHG. ndhlicho = Icel. nd- 
liga), nearly, < nedh, nigh, near, + -lice, E. -ly 2 .] 
Nearly; within a little ; almost. 
Their weedes bene not so nighty wore. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal., July. 
Suppose a man born blind, and now adult, and taught 
by his touch to distinguish between a cube and sphere, 
(suppose) of ivory, niyhly of the same bigness, so as to tell 
when he felt one and t' other. 
Molyneux, To Locke, March 2, 1692. 
nighnesst (ni'nes), n. The state of being nigh ; 
nearness; proximity in place, time, or degree. 
He could not prevail with her to come back, till about 
4 years after, when the Garrison of Oxon was surrender'd 
(the nighness of her Father's house to which having for 
the most pail of the mean time hindred any communica- 
tion between them), she of her own accord returned. 
A. Wood, Milton, in Fasti Oxon. (Latham.) 
night (nit), n. [< ME. night, nigt, niht, nyght, etc., 
na$t, naht, < AS. niht, nyht, neht, neaht, na-lit = 
OS. naht = OFries. nacht = D. nacht = MLG. 
nacht = OHG. naht, MHG. G. nacht = Icel. 
ndtt, nott = Sw. natt = Dan. not = Goth, nahts 
= W. BOS = Ir. nochd = Bret. noz = OBulg. noshti 
= Russ. nochu = Lith. nalttis = Lett, nahts = L. 
nox (noct-) (> It. notte = Sp. noche = Pg. noite = 
Pr. noit, notch, nuoit = OF. noit, F. nuit) = Gr. 
v'v!- (VVKT-) = Skt. naJcta, nakti, night; root un- 
certain; usually referred to Skt. y^MA vanish, 
perish. Cf . Skt. nic, night, which is doubtful- 
ly connected with L. niger, black : see negro.] 
1. The dark half of the day; that part of the 
complete clay during which the sun is below the 
horizon ; the time from sunset to sunrise. See 
day 1 . 
Ek wonder last but nine nyght nevere in toune. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 588. 
God saw the light was good ; 
And light from darkness by the hemisphere 
Divided : light the day, and darkness night 
He named. Milton, P. L., vii. 251. 
2. Evening; nightfall; the end of the day : as, 
he came home at night. 3. Figuratively, a 
state or time of darkness, depression, misfor- 
tune, or the like, (a) A state of ignorance; intellect- 
ual darkness : as, the night of the middle ages. (6) A 
state of concealment from the eye or the mind ; obscurity. 
Nor let thine own inventions hope 
Things not reveal'd, which the invisible King, 
Only Omniscient, hath suppress'd in ni'jlit. 
MUton, P. L., vU. 123. 
ure and Nature's laws lay hid in night : 
said, " Let Newton be ! " and all was light. 
Pope, Epitaph intended for Newton. 
(c) The darkness of death or the grave. 
Bid him bring his power 
Before sunrising, lest his son George fall 
Into the blind cave of eternal night. 
Shak., Rich. III., v. 3. 62. 
She closed her lids at last in endless night. 
Dryden, JSneid, iv. 992. 
(d) A time of sadness or sorrow ; a dreary period. 
The ni'jht of sorrow now is turn'd to day. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 481. 
And all is well, tho' faith and form 
Be sunder'd in the night of fear. 
Tennyson, In Memoiiam, cxxvii. 
() Old age. 
Nabur 
God said, 
