N I G 
S4 NIG 
Niggardlinefs is not good hufbandry; nor generofity pro- 
fuiion. Addifon. 
NIG'GARDLY, adj. Avaricious; fordidly parfimo- 
nious.—Where the owner of the houfe will be bountiful, 
it is not for the fleward to be niggardly. Bp. Hall. —Love, a 
penurious god, very niggardly of his opportunities, mull be 
watched like a hard-hearted treafurer. Dryden. —Tiberius 
was noted for his niggardly temper; he ufed only to give 
to his attendants their diet. Arlmtlmot on Coins. 
Providence, not niggardly but wife, 
Here lavifhly beftows, and there denies, 
That by each other’s virtues we may rife. Granville. 
Sparing; wary.—T know your mind, and I will fatisfy it; 
neither will I do it like a niggardly anfwerer, going no 
farther than the bounds of the queftion. Sidney. 
NIG'GARDLY, adv. Sparingly; parfimonioufly.—I 
have long loved her, followed her, ingrofs’d opportunities 
to meet her ; feed every llightoccafion that could but nig¬ 
gardly give me fight of her. Shakejpeare's M. W. ofWindJbr. 
NIG'GARDNESS, Avarice; fordid parfimony.— 
Againlt him that is a niggard of his meat the whole city 
fhalrmurmur; and the teftimonies of his niggurdnejs fhall 
slot be doubted of. Ecclvf. xxi. 24. 
NIG'GARDSHIP, J'. Avarice. Not in life. Huloet and 
Barret. —This was but mifery and wretched niggard/hip in 
a man of fuch honour. Sir. T. Elyot's Gov. 
NIG'GARDY, /.’ Niggardnefs. Objolete. —Difdeigneth 
all covetiie, and hateth all nigardie. Gower. 
To NIG'GLE, v.n. [probably from the'Fr. niger, to 
trifle, to play the fool. Cotgrave.'] To play with; to trifle 
■with : 
Take heed, daughter. 
You niggle not with confcience and religion, 
In ftyling him an innocent, from your fear 
And fhame to accufe yourfelf. Maffinger. 
NIGH, prep .- [newha , Goth, neah, neh, Sax. and fo nee 
in. old Eng.] At no great diltance from : 
Nigh this recefs, with terrour they furvey 
Where death maintains his dread tyrannick fvvay. Garth. 
NIGH, adv. Not at a great diltance, either in time or 
place, orcourfeof events: when it is ufed of time, it is ap¬ 
plied to time future.—He was lick nigh unto death. Phil. 
ji. 27.—To a place near.—Mordecai lent letters both nigh 
and far. Ejiher ix. 20. 
-I will defer that anxious thought. 
And death, by fear, fhall not be nigher brought. Dryden. 
Aim oft; as, He was nigh' dead. 
NIGH, adj. Near; not diftant; not remote: either in 
time or place.—When the fig-tree putteth forth leaves, 
ye k^w that fummer is nigh. Matth. xxiv. 32.—Allied 
clofely by blood.—He committed the protection of his 
fon Afanes to two of his nigh kinfmen and allured friends. 
Rnolles: —His uncle or uncle's fon, or any that is high of 
kin unto him of his family, may redeem him. Lev. xxv.49. 
To NIGH, v. n. [nehpan, Sax. to approach.] To ap¬ 
proach ; to advance; to draw near.— Whanne he had 
entrid into Capernaum, the centurien neighede to him, 
and priede him, and feid, Lord, my child lijth in the hous 
fyke on the palelye. Wicliffe's Matth. viii. 
The dewy night now doth nye, 
I hold it belt for us home to hye. Spenfer's Shop. Cal. 
To NIGH, v. a. To come near to; to touch.—To nigh 
a thing, is to be clofe to it, to touch it. North. Graft:. — 
Love gan nigh me nere. Chancer. —A knave catchpoll 
nyghed us nere. Old Morality of Hycke-Scorncr. 
But Cloudefley cleft the apple in twaine. 
His fon he did not nee. Song of Adam Bell. 
NI'GHER,/ An Indian word for any fortified city of 
at lead eight cofs in length and breadth, 
NI'GHLY, adv. Nearly; within a little.—A man born 
•blind, now adult, was taught by his touch todUlinguilh 
between a cube and a fphere of the fame metal, and nigkbj 
of the fame bignefs. Locke. 
NI'GHNESS, J'. Nearnefs ; proximity.—He could not 
prevail with her to come back; till about four years after, 
when the garrifon of Oxon was furrendered, (the nighnejs 
of her father’s houfe to which having for the moll part of 
the mean time hindered any communication between 
them,) Iheof her own accord returned. A. Wood's Ace. of 
Milton, FaJ't. Ox. under 1635. 
NIGHT, f. [ nauts , Goth, mire, Sax. unit, Fr.] The 
time of darknefs; the time from fun-fet to fun-rife.—The 
duke of Cornwall, and Regan his dutchefs, will be here 
this night. Shakefpeare's K. Lear. —In the morning he fhall 
devour the prey, and at night divide the fpoil. Gen. xlix. 27- 
Let them fleep, let them fleep on. 
Till this ftormy night be gone. 
And the eternal morrow dawn ; 
Then the curtains will be drawn; 
And they waken with that light, 
Whofe day fhall never fleep in night. Cra/haw. 
Dire Tiliphone there keeps the ward, 
Girt in her fanguine gown by night and day, 
Obfervant of the fouls that pals the downward way. Dryd. 
The end of the day of life ; death.—She clos’d her eyes in 
everlafting night. Dryden. —State or time of ignorance or 
obfeurity : 
When learning, after the long Gothick night, 
Fair o’er the vveftern world diffus’d her light. Anon. 
State of being not underftood ; unintelligibility.—Nature 
and Nature’s works lay hid in night. Pope. —It is much 
ufed in compofition. 
2VNight, adverbially. In this night; at this night. 
—There came men in hither to-night of the children of 
Ifrael, to fearch out the country. Jojh. ii. 2. 
Night was originally divided by the Hebrews and 
other eaftern nations into three parts, or watches. The 
Romans, and after them the Jews, divided the night into 
four parts, or watches ; the firft of which began at fun- 
fet, and lafted till nine at night, according to our way of 
reckoning ; the fecond lafted till midnight; the third till 
three in the morning; and the fourth ended at fun-rife. 
The ancient Gauls and Germans divided their time not 
by days, but by nights; and the people of Iceland and 
the Arabs do the fame at this day. The like is obferved 
of the Anglo-Saxons. 
The length and Ihortnefs of night, or of darknefs, is ac¬ 
cording to the feafon of the year and pofition of the place ; 
and the caufes of this variety are now well known. (See 
Astronomy.) Under the equator, the nights are always 
equal to the days. Under the poles, the night continues 
half a-year. 
Night, in fcripture-language, is ufed for the times of 
lieathenifh ignorance and profanenefs, (Rom. xiii. 12.) 
for adverfity and affliction, (If. xxi. 12.) and, laftly, for 
death, (John ix. 4.) 
NI GHT-BIRD, f. A bird that flies only in the night, 
—There be a fort of birds that fly only in the night* 
called from thence night-birds and night-ravens, which 
are afraid of light, as an enemy to fpy, to alfault, or betray, 
them. Hammond. 
NI'GHT-BORN, adj. Produced in darknefs: 
And in his mercy did his power oppofe 
’Gainlt Errour’s night-born children. Mir.for Mag. 
My folemn night-born adjuration hear; 
Hear, and I’ll raife thy fpirit from the duft, 
While the liars gaze on this enchantment new. 
Young's Night Thoughts. 
NI'GHT-BRAWLER, J\ One whoraifes dillurbances 
in the night: 
You unlace your reputation, 
And fpend your rich opinion for the name 
Of a night-brawler. Sltakejpearc's Othello. 
NI'GHTN 
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