nabob
[NAY-bahb]
1. a provincial governor of the Mogul empire in India
2. a person of great wealth or prominence
Example sentence:
It's the haunt of international luminaries . . . television pundits, industrial nabobs, visiting royals, best-selling novelists, and anybody who is anybody. (Jay Jacobs, "Gourmet", January 1983)
History:
In India's Mogul Empire, founded by the Moslem prince Babur in the 16th century, provincial governors carried the title of "nawab" in the Urdu language. In 1612, Captain Robert Coverte (apparently unaware of earlier travel accounts) published a report of his "discovery" of "the Great Mogoll, a prince not till now knowne to our English nation." The Captain informed the English-speaking world that "An earle is called a Nawbob," thereby introducing the English version of the word to the written page. "Nabob," as it thereafter came to be spelled, gained its extended sense of "a prominent person" in the late 18th century, when it was applied sarcastically to British officials of the East India Company who returned home after amassing great wealth trading in Asia.


nadir
[NAY-dir; nay-DIR]
1. (Astronomy) The point of the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith and directly below the observer.
2. The lowest point; the time of greatest depression or adversity.
Examples:
1) Exploitation reached a nadir in the 1920s, when high government officials were implicated in a flourishing international slave trade and domestic forced labor. (Bill Berkeley, "The Graves Are Not Yet Full")
2) At the nadir of every recession, business pages fill up with stories of belt-tightening families who move to Vermont and buy their food in bulk. (Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge," New York Times, June 21, 1998)
Etymology:
"Nadir" is derived from Arabic "nazir" ("opposite").


naif
[nah-EEF; ny-]
1. (adjective) Naive.
2. (noun) A naive or inexperienced person.
Examples:
1) It is only very naif critics who think that all one's influences must be contemporary. (John Fowles, "Wormholes")
2) Their money-grubbing game: they feign a tragic past and prey on the sympathies of unsuspecting naifs, fishing for bank account numbers or photocopies of passports. (Nathalie Atkinson, "Con heir," Toronto Life, September 1, 2003)
3) Believing nothing, the skeptic is blind; believing everything, the naif is lame. ("We Are All Wayfarers On the Waves of Time," Hinduism Today, November 30, 1998)
4) But underneath their differences, they're variations on a theme: one a naif, one worldly-wise who learns from the naif. (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, "Torched Songs," Palm Beach Post, September 15, 2000)
Etymology:
"Naif" comes from French, from Old French "naif" ("naive, natural, just born"), from Latin "nativus" ("native, rustic," literally "born, inborn, natural"), from Latin "nativus" ("inborn, produced by birth"), from "natus", past participle of "nasci" ("to be born").


nail

• nailed
• get nailed

To find or catch someone doing something wrong.
Examples:
1) Jimmy's father nailed him smoking cigarettes. 2) After three years of counterfeiting treasury bonds, the FBI nailed the crime ring.
Etymology, related expression:
A "nail" is a small piece of metal that holds two pieces of wood together. When you get nailed, you and the thing you did wrong are attached together, for everyone to see.

namby-pamby

• namby
• pamby

(Adjective)
1. Excessively sentimental; affectedly pretty.
2. Weak in willpower; lacking moral or emotional strength.
(Noun) 3. An insipid weakling who is foolishly sentimental.
Examples:
1) This story is too namby-pamby
2) He is too namby-pamby when it comes to making up his mind.
3) He's a real namby-pamby guy.
4) Do you like these namby-pamby madrigals of love?
History:
The word was coined to describe the poetry of Ambrose Philips (died 1749) who wrote yuckilly, sentimental pastoral poems that were ridiculed by fellow poets Henry Carey and Alexander Pope. The first OED citation for the word is by Carey from his 1726 poem "Namby Pamby" - "So the Nurses get by Heart Namby Pamby's Little Rhimes." Note that this poem was such a successful demolition of Philips that Carey himself became known as Namby Pamby Carey and Philips became known as Namby Pamby.



name is mud

• name
• mud

1. The name is bad, the name is not respected.
2. The person is in trouble, possibly doomed and worthless.
Examples:
1) If you don't pay for the support of your child, your name is mud.
2) Everyone knows that it was Joseph who started the fight during the game. Now that we're disqualified, his name is mud.
History:
In the 1700s "mud" was a slang word for "fool" or "stupid person" in England. Starting in the early 1800s, the saying "His name is mud" was used in the British Parliament to point out any member of Parliament who had disgraced himself.


nanopublishing

• nano-publishing
• nanopublisher
• Nano-
• Nano
• thin media
• thin
• media

An online publishing model that uses a scaled-down, inexpensive operation to reach a targeted audience, especially by using blogging techniques.
Also: nano-publishing
nanopublisher - n.
Examples:
1) Unlike Kelly's site, Gizmodo (gizmodo.com) is built for speed and the quick hit, and it wants to be far more au courant than "Cool Tools". It was launched by New York-based Brit Nick Denton - who also started the ultra-hip blog site Gawker.com, a mix of New York party gossip and news. Denton's approach to online publishing is part of trend that's been dubbed "nanopublishing". (Stephen Williams, "Two Grand Blogs For Geeks, Gadget Freaks", Newsday (New York, NY), February 17, 2004)
2) One reason why hard-bitten Web publishing veterans are so interested in emerging nanopublishing models is that, after being hyped for so long, community is finally coming true. The fact that bloggers can easily link to material they find interesting not only keeps them ranked high on Google, it also means that communities of shared interest emerge quickly online, as PaidContent and Gawker have demonstrated. (Nic Howell, "Blogging: Think thin", New Media Age, July 24, 2003)
3) It was launched by New York-based Brit Nick Denton - who also started the ultra-hip blog site Gawker.com, a mix of New York party gossip and news. Denton's approach to online publishing is part of a trend that's been dubbed "nanopublishing."
("Newsday", 16 Feb. 2004)
4) In a final piece of nanopublishing news, the pair behind Guardian blog award-winning The Big Smoker have relaunched as the London outpost of the blog network Gothamist. (The "Guardian", 18 Nov. 2004)
History, synonym:
"Nano-" (one billionth) is the prefix-du-jour for describing in a figurative sense of something extremely small-scale, having in the past couple of years replaced "micro-" (which had replaced "mini-" a while back). A less trendy - but probably more accurate - name for nanopublishing is "thin media" (2003).
The word is a development of the blogging revolution. Some bloggers have realised that the format allows them to reach large numbers of people very quickly and cheaply and that - through a mixture of sponsorship, donations and targeted links to online marketing sites such as Amazon - it is possible to make money. The essence of the approach is to provide a targeted audience with informed news and comment on some specialist subject, whether it's political gossip or the latest in electronic gadgets (or even the English language).


narc

• nark
• narcotics agent
• narcotics
• agent

1. A police informer; anyone who provides information to the authorities about their friends or associates.
Example:
Nobody likes a narc.
2. To inform or spy (for the police).
Etymology:
This sense of 'narc' is derived from the Romany word 'nak' which means 'nose' - maybe from the idea that you shouldn't put your nose where it doesn't belong.
3. A police officer who specializes in drug crimes; an undercover agent who investigates the drug world.
Example:
The dealer got busted after he sold drugs to a narc.
Synonyms:
nark, narcotics agent
Etymology:
'Narc' is short for 'narcotics agent' - a police officer who deals with narcotics (drugs).
4. To cause annoyance in; disturb, esp. by minor irritations.
Examples:
1) Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me.
2) It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves.
Synonyms:
annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at , irritate, rile, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil.
5. (Australian usage) A bothersome person, annoying person; whinger, wowser, spoilsport.
6. (Australian usage) To thwart; upset someone's plans.


narrative medicine

• narrative
• medicine

Medicine that uses the story of a patient's illness combined with traditional medical practices as a way of understanding, diagnosing, and treating the illness.
Examples:
1) Narrative medicine imports terms from literature to describe the doctor-patient relationship. In describing his backache, Charon said, the Dominican man was actually telling an "illness narrative", which can be interpreted just like a literary text: by examining the presentation of character, the structure of the tale and the plot of the disease. Regardless of the outcome - the diagnosis or treatment - what is central is the telling and receiving of the tale. (Melanie Thernstrom, "The Writing Cure", The New York Times, April 18, 2004)
2) The 45-year-old woman writhing in pain from an abdominal illness groans and snaps irritably at the medical student who is examining her. Her grimaces and grumbling are not articulate, but to a careful listener like Stephen Lee-Kong, a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University, they are part of a narrative that will explain what's wrong with her. Teaching students how to "read" patients and listen as their stories unfold are goals of an innovative program here in what has become known as "narrative medicine". (Katherine S. Mangan, "Behind Every Symptom, a Story", The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 13, 2004)
3) Both Drs. Brody and Kleinman seem to agree that the remedy for our chronic inattention to the patient is a new emphasis in both teaching and practice in ''medical humanities.'' To those who believe that medical humanities are to the humanities as military music is to music, Dr. Brody's eloquent book presents a formidable challenge. He fully displays the virtues of his new discipline as he shows us how literary criticism and social sciences can be applied to the tales of illness that doctors and patients tell one other. (Gerald Weissmann, "Narrative medicine", The New York Times, July 17, 1988)


nascent
[NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt]
Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.
Examples:
1) But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal. ("Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001)
2) By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries... plus a schoolhouse and a church. (Ron Chernow, "Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.")
3) This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market. (Ted Gioia, "The History of Jazz")
Etymology, related words:
"Nascent" comes from Latin "nascens" ("being born"), present participle of "nasci" ("to be born"). It is a relative newcomer to the collection of English words that derive from that Latin verb. In fact, when the word "nascent" was itself a newborn, in the first quarter of the 17th century, other "nasci" offspring were already respectably mature. "Nation," "native," and "nature" had been around since the 1300s; "innate" and "natal," since the 1400s. More recently, some French descendants of "nasci" were picked up: "nee" in the 1700s and "Renaissance" in the 1800s. The newest "nasci" word may well be "perinatology," which was first used in the late 1960s to name the specialized branch of medicine concerned with childbirth.


nave
1. The center of a church; place of seating in a church, the central area of a church.
2. The block in the center of a wheel, from which the spokes radiate, and through which the axle passes.
Synonyms: hub, hob. 3. (obs.) A navel. Etymology:
1673, from Sp. or It. "nave", from M.L. "navem" (nom. "navis") - "nave of a church," from L. "navis" - "ship", on some fancied resemblance in shape.
There's no doubt that the word for the part of a Christian church intended for the use of the laity comes from the Latin "navis" for a ship (as does "naval", for example). Why this should be so isn't obvious, especially as the word isn't known in English until the naturalist John Ray included it in his book "Observations Made in a Journey through Part of the Low-countries" in 1673. So it's definitely much too recent to have been the term for a primitive church. It's sometimes said that it's an allusion to the Christian church being like a ship exposed to the buffeting of the waves of the sea. It's much more likely that the shape of the building suggested the simile, because it's usually long and thin and often has a pitched roof that fancifully looks a bit like an upturned boat's keel.
A word with similar seafaring links is known in several European languages, including Danish, French and German (in this last, it's "Schiff", literally "a ship"), and in these languages is older than in English; the Latin word "navis", its source, may have been influenced by the Classical Greek word for a temple that was similar to its word for a ship. Before "nave" came into English, "navis" was sometimes employed instead (for example, it's in a book by Sir Christopher Wren, dated 1669: "The Ailes, from whence arise Bows or Flying Buttresses to the Walls of the Navis"). There's an ancient metaphor that links the Church with a ship and specifically Noah's Ark. A clerical polemic of 1844 says of the word "government" (from a Greek term that means "steersman"): "A metaphor from mariners or pilots, that steer and govern the ship: translated thence, to signify the power and authority of church governors, spiritual pilots, steering the ship or ark of Christ's Church."


ne
(SMS) any


ne plus ultra

• ne
• plus
• ultra
• height
• zenith
• ultimate
• crown
• pinnacle
• peak
• summit
• crest
• high-water mark
• high-water
• mark

[nee-plus-UL-truh; nay-]
1. The highest point, as of excellence or achievement; the acme; the pinnacle; the ultimate.
2. The most profound degree of a quality or condition.
Examples:
1) He also penned a number of supposedly moral and improving books which... were the very ne plus ultra of tedium. (Richard West, "A life fuller than fiction," Irish Times, August 9, 1997)
2) If you were a graduate student in the 80's and subject to the general delusion that held literary criticism to be the ne plus ultra of intellectual thrill, then you too probably owned one of these: an oversize paperback with an austere cover and small-type title that, grouped with three or more of its kind on your bookshelf, confirmed your status as an avatar of predoctoral chic. (Judith Shulevitz, "Correction Appended," New York Times, October 29, 1995)
Etymology, synonyms:
It's the height, the zenith, the ultimate, the crown, the pinnacle. It's the peak, the summit, the crest, the high-water mark. All these expressions, of course, mean "the highest point attainable." But "ne plus ultra" may top them all when it comes to expressing in a sophisticated way that something is the pink of perfection. It is said that the term's predecessor, "non plus ultra," was inscribed on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, which marked the western end of the classical world. The phrase served as a warning: "(Let there) not (be) more (sailing) beyond." The New Latin version "ne plus ultra," meaning "(go) no more beyond," found its way into English in the 1630s.


nebbish
[NEB-ish]
A timid, meek, or ineffectual person.
Example:
Larry's character in the play was a nervous, awkward nebbish of a man, utterly devoid of chutzpah.
Etymology, more examples:
"From what I read . . . it looks like Pa isn't anything like the nebbish Ma is always making him out to be . . . ." Sounds like poor Pa got a bum rap, at least according to a 1951 book review that appeared in "The New York Times". The unfortunate Pa unwittingly demonstrates much about the etymology of "nebbish," which derives from the Yiddish "nebekh," meaning "poor" or "unfortunate." Used interjectionally in Yiddish - "poor thing!" - the word was borrowed from Czech "nebohy." The not-so-ineffectual-after-all Pa also contributed something else - the 1951 reference is the first known written instance of the word "nebbish" with its modern English sense.


nebulous

• vague
• nebular
• nebula

1. of, relating to, or resembling a nebula
Synonym: nebular
2. indistinct, hazy
Synonym: vague
Example:
Tia's nebulous description of the novel led her teacher to suspect that she hadn't read past the book jacket.
Etymology, more examples:
"Nebulous" comes from the Latin word "nebulosus", meaning "misty", which in turn comes from "nebula", meaning "mist", "fog", or "cloud". In the 18th century, English speakers borrowed "nebula" and gave it a somewhat more specific meaning than the Latin version. In English "nebula" refers to a cloud of gas or dust in deep space, or in less technical contexts, refers simply to a galaxy. "Nebulous" itself, when it doesn't have interstellar implications, usually means "cloudy" or "foggy" in a figurative sense. One's memory of a long-past event, for example, will often be nebulous. A teenager might give a nebulous recounting of his evening upon coming home. Or a politician might make a campaign promise but give only a nebulous description of how he would fulfill it.


necessity is the mother of invention

• necessity
• mother
• invention

Inventiveness or creativity is stimulated by need or difficulty.
Example:
1) "Rosie, you should see Ted's new bed. It's up on a platform," said Raymond. "And he even built a desk and book shelves underneath."
"What a good idea," replied Rosie. "The last time I saw Ted he was complaining about how small his room is. I guess necessity really is the mother of invention."
2) He created shoes with stilts so he could reach the ceiling. Necessity is the mother of
invention.
Etymology:
People often come up with new ideas, new ways of doing things, or new things because they need to solve a problem.
A phrase similar to this was used by people in ancient Greece, and today it is a proverb in Italian, French, German, and some other languages. The first use of it in English was in a British play in 1672. It's very popular all over the world, probably because it states a universal truth. If you urgently need something that you don't have, you will discover or invent it by using your imagination and skill. In this expression, "mother" means the creative source that gives birth to the invention.

need smth. like a hole in the head

• need smth.
• like a hole in the head
• need
• hole in the head
• hole
• head

To have no need for something at all.
Example:
Conchita needed a battery-operated, revolving-head spaghetti fork like she needed a hole
in the head.
History:
This bit of American slang comes from the 1940s. It is similar to older sayings that used the idea of not needing something that is totally unnecessary or harmful, such as "I need this like I need a disease/a cough/a toad" and so on. The words "hole in the head" come from a Yiddish expression, "loch in kop".

needle in a haystack

• needle in a hay-stack
• needle
• haystack
• hay-stack
• hay
• stack

Something that is very hard to find, or is unlikely to be found; anything hopeless (in a search).
Examples:
1) Getting a good, cheap meal in New York is like finding a needle in a haystack. 2) The movie theater was so crowded that getting a seat was like finding a needle in a haystack.
3) Looking for your contact lens in this shaggy rug will be like looking for a needle in a
haystack.
History:
Finding anything in a haystack is hard. A 'needle' is a very small tool used to sew cloth, and if a needle were sitting in a stack of 'hay' (cut grass), it would be almost impossible to find.
Since the early 1500s there have been similar expressions to describe things difficult to find: "like finding a needle in a meadow of hay" and "like finding a pin's head in a cartload of hay." In the mid-1800s the expression became "needle in a haystack."
Sayings like these are popular in other languages, too.

nefarious

• Vicious
• villainous

[nih-FAIR-ee-us]
Flagrantly wicked; wicked in the extreme; iniquitous; impious.
Synonym: evil
Examples:
1) The sheriff vowed to avenge the nefarious deeds of the bandits who robbed the bank and kidnapped his daughter.
2) Despite involvement in protection, narcotics, strong-arm debt collecting, strikebreaking, and blackmail, among other nefarious activities, all of them professed to be a cut above mobsters in other lands. (Robert Whiting, "Tokyo Underworld")
3) The liar, however, can become a truly subversive and scandalous figure, whose nefarious influence may extend far more widely than her own individual actions. (John Forrester, "Truth Games")
Etymology, more synonyms:
"Nefarious" is from Latin "nefarius", from "nefas" ("that which is contrary to divine command; a crime, transgression, sin"), from "ne-" ("not") + "fas" ("divine command or law").
"Vicious" and "villainous" are two wicked synonyms of "nefarious," and, like "nefarious," both mean "highly reprehensible or offensive in character, nature, or conduct." But these synonyms are not used in exactly the same way in all situations. "Vicious" may imply moral depravity or it may connote malignancy, cruelty, or destructive violence. "Villainous" applies to any evil, depraved, or vile conduct or characteristic, while "nefarious" suggests flagrant breaching of time-honored laws and traditions of conduct. While "nefarious" first appeared in English in the early 17th century, "vicious" and "villainous" preceded "nefarious" by about two hundred years.


negative revenue growth

• negative
• revenue growth
• negative growth
• revenue
• growth

Financial losses of a company.
Example:
Some executives think it doesn't sound as bad to say "negative revenue growth".

nemesis
[NEM-uh-siss]
1. One that inflicts retribution or vengeance.
2. A formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent.
3. An act or effect of retribution.
4. A source of harm or ruin; curse.
Example:
The team will be facing their longtime nemesis in the very first round of the playoffs.
History:
Nemesis was the Greek goddess of vengeance, a deity who doled out rewards for noble acts and punishment for evil ones. The Greeks believed that Nemesis didn't always punish an offender immediately but might wait generations to avenge a crime. In English, "nemesis" originally referred to someone who brought a just retribution, but nowadays people are more likely to see animosity than justice in the actions of a nemesis.


neologism

• neologist
• Neologistic
• Neologistical
• Neology
• neologize
• neologization

[nee-OL-uh-jiz-um]
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a scripture.
Examples:
1) The word "civilization" was just coming into use in the 18th century, in French and in English, and conservative men of letters preferred to avoid it as a newfangled neologism. (Larry Wolff, "'If I Were Younger I Would Make Myself Russian': Voltaire's Encounter With the Czars", New York Times, November 13, 1994)
2) If the work is really a holding operation, this will show in a closed or flat quality in the prose and in the scheme of the thing, a logiclessness, if you will pardon the neologism, in the writing. (Harold Brodkey, "Reading, the Most Dangerous Game", New York Times, November 24, 1985)
3) The word popularizing was a relative neologism (the Review boasted five years later, "Why should we be afraid of introducing new words into the language which it is our mission to spread over a new world?"). (Edward L. Widmer, "Young America")
Etymology, relative words:
The French word "neologisme", from which the English is borrowed, is made up of the elements "neo-" ("new") + "log-" ("word") + "-isme" ("-ism") (all of which are derived from Greek). A neologist is one who introduces new words or new senses of old words into a language. Neologistic, or neologistical, describes that which pertains to neology, "the introduction of a new word, or of words or significations, into a language". "To neologize" is to coin or use neologisms, and neologization is the act or process of doing so.


neophilia

• neophily
• neophobia

[nee-uh-FILL-ee-uh]
love of or enthusiasm for what is new or novel
Example:
The home entertainment industry indulges the neophilia of its customers with a steady line of new products, each with more flashy automated features than the one before.
History, antonym:
The early form of "neophilia," "neophily," was first found in print in 1932, appropriately enough, describing an interest in new terminology. It wasn't until about 1947, however, that it began appearing in its present form, as a combination of the Greek-derived combining forms "neo-," meaning "new," and "- philia," meaning "liking for." The opposite of "neophilia" is "neophobia," meaning "a dread of or aversion to novelty." It has been around even longer than "neophilia," having first appeared in 1886.


neophyte

• novice
• beginner
• rookie
• tyro

[NEE-uh-fyt]
1. A new convert or proselyte.
2. A novice; a beginner in anything.
Synonyms: novice, beginner, rookie, tyro.
Examples:
1) I was a complete neophyte and knew nothing about the choreographic process, but seeing the steps pour out of this man was a revelation. (Edward Villella, "Remembering Balanchine as the Boss," New York Times, January 26, 1992)
2) She, the neophyte, with as yet no experience of this, had settled eagerly to the task. (Anita Brookner, "Falling Slowly")
3) As a neophyte in politics, I didn't understand that ducking the issues was the goal of most campaigns. (Pat Schroeder, "24 Years of House Work... and the Place Is Still a Mess")
Etymology:
"Neophyte" comes from Late Latin "neophytus", from Greek "neophutos" ("newly planted"), from "neo-" ("new") + "phutos" ("planted"), from "phuein" ("to grow, to bring forth").


neoteric
[nee-uh-TER-ik] Recent in origin; modern; new.
Examples:
1) Electronic books, they say, are asking them to make a mental transition - to veer from their ingrained appreciation for the printed books that fill our nation's more than 120,000 public, academic and special interest libraries - to depend on a neoteric gizmo that disrupts the sacred union between man and book. (Charlotte Moore, "Bedtime for binderies?", Austin American Statesman, July 28, 2000)
2) His new label specializes in alternative country or Americana - music with a sense of tradition and a neoteric edge. (Christopher John Farley, "Back To Country's Roots", Time, June 11, 2001)
Etymology:
"Neoteric" derives from Greek "neoterikos", from "neoteros" ("younger"), comparative of "neos" ("young, new").


nepenthe
1. a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow;
2. something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering.
Example:
Ed threw himself into his art and used painting as a nepenthe to numb the pain of his broken heart.
Etymology:
"Nepenthe" and its ancestors have long been popular with poets. Homer used the Greek grandparent of "nepenthe" in a way many believe is a reference to opium. The term was a tonic to Edmund Spenser, who wrote, "In her other hand a cup she hild, The which was this Nepenthe to the brim upfild". Edgar Allan Poe sought to "Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore." The term is an alteration of the Latin "nepenthes," which is itself descended from the Greek prefix "ne-," meaning "not," plus "penthos," meaning "grief" or "sorrow." English writers have been plying the word "nepenthe" since the 16th century.


nepotism
[NEP-uh-tiz-um]
Favoritism based on kinship, i.e. shown to members of one's family, as in business, or in appointment to a job; bestowal of patronage in consideration of relationship, rather than of merit or of legal claim.
Examples:
1) I got a job there as a result of my grandfather being on the board of directors - a lesson in loyalty here, or, should I say, just plain old nepotism. (James Carville, "Stickin': The Case for Loyalty")
2) The staff was recruited by unabashed nepotism. --Noel Annan, [2]Changing Enemies Some custodians have worked their way around more recent nepotism rules by hiring each other's relatives. (Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti, "New Schools for a New Century")
3) Being the son of the CEO, Jamie knew he got his position as marketing director partly through nepotism, but he nevertheless felt confident that he had the know-how and imagination to improve sales.
Etymology:
"Nepotism" derives from Latin "nepot-, nepos" ("grandson, nephew"). It is related to "nephew", which comes from the Latin via Old French "neveu".
During his papacy from 1471-1484, Sixtus IV granted many special favors to members of his own family, in particular his nephews. This practice of papal favoritism was carried on by his successors, and in 1667 it was the subject of Gregorio Leti's book "Il Nipotismo di Roma" - a history of the popes' nephews. (In Italian, "nepote" means "nephew.") Shortly after the book's appearance, "nepotism" began to be used in English for the showing of special favor or unfair preference to a relative by someone in any position of power, be it ecclesiastical or not.


nescience

• ignorance
• Nescient

[NESH-ee-unss]
Lack of knowledge or awareness.
Synonym: ignorance
Examples:
1) The ancients understood that too much knowledge could actually impede human functioning - this at a time when the encroachments on global nescience were comparatively few. (Cullen Murphy, "DNA Fatigue", The Atlantic, November 1997)
2) He fought on our behalf in the war that finally matters: against nescience, against inadvertence, against the supposition that anything is anything else. (Hugh Kenner, "On the Centenary of James Joyce", New York Times, January 31, 1982)
3) The notion has taken hold that every barometric fluctuation must demonstrate climate change. This anecdotal case for global warming is mostly nonsense, driven by nescience of a basic point, from statistics and probability, that the weather is always weird somewhere. (Gregg Easterbrook, "Warming Up", The New Republic, November 8, 1999)
4) As the conversation among the group turned to movies, Rob feared that his silence might betray his nescience toward all things related to the cinema.
History, related words:
Eighteenth-century British poet, essayist, and lexicographer Samuel Johnson once said, "There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable that I would not rather know it than not know it." He undoubtedly knew a thing or two about the history of the word "nescience," which evolved from Latin "nescire" ("not to know"), a combination of the Latin prefix "ne-," meaning "not," and "scire," a verb meaning "to know," and which first appeared in English in the early 17th century. "Nescient" is the adjective form. And Johnson probably also knew that "scire" is also an ancestor of "science," a word whose original meaning in English was "knowledge." From that point, it takes no stretch of the imagination to see that "scire" also gave us other words relating to the mind, including "conscience," "conscious," and "prescience."


neurodiversity

• neuro-diversity
• neurodiverse

The variety of non-debilitating neurological behaviors and abilities exhibited by the human race.
Also: neuro-diversity.
neurodiverse - adj.
Examples:
1) For me, the key significance of the 'autistic spectrum' lies in its call for and anticipation of a politics of neurological diversity, or neurodiversity. The 'neurologically different' represent a new addition to the familiar political categories of class/gender/race and will augment the insights of the social model of disability. The rise of neurodiversity takes postmodern fragmentation one step further. Just as the postmodern era sees every once too solid belief melt into air, even our most taken-for-granted assumptions - that we all more or less see, feel, touch, hear, smell, and sort information, in more or less the same way (unless visibly disabled) - are being dissolved. (Judy Singer, "'Why can't you be normal for once in your life?'" in "Disability Discourse", Mairian Corker ed., Open University Press, February 1, 1999)
2) But in a new kind of disabilities movement, many of those who deviate from the shrinking subset of neurologically ''normal'' want tolerance, not just of their diagnoses, but of their behavioral quirks. They say brain differences, like body differences, should be embraced, and argue for an acceptance of ''neurodiversity'". (Amy Harmon, "The Disability Movement Turns to Brains", The New York Times, May 9, 2004)
3) Neurodiversity is a word that has been around since autistic people started putting sites on the internet. It has since been expanded to include not just people who are known as "autistics and cousins", but to express the idea that a diversity of ways of human thinking is a good thing, and dyslexic, autistic, ADHD, dyspraxic and tourettes people to name but a few all have some element in common not being neurotypical in the way our brains work.
("What Is Neurodiversity?", Coventry Neurodiversity Group, <http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7138/rights/neurodiversity.htm>)
History:
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-", comb. form of "neuron" ("nerve"), originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring", also "strength, vigor"; cf. L. "nervus". "Diverse" - 1297, spelling variant of "divers" (q.v.), perhaps by analogy with "converse", "traverse", etc. More associated with L. "diversus", and since c.1700 restricted to the meaning "different in character or quality". "Diversity" is c.1340.
The neurodiversity movement is based on the belief that there is no such thing as "normal" when it comes to the human mental landscape. The "neurotypical" (1996) person simply does not exist. Together we display a wide variety of neurological behaviors and abilities, and most of us exhibit some form of mental "disorder" from time to time, albeit in non-debilitating - or "subclinical" - form: mild depression, temporary anxiety, and so on. We accept that the world is populated with people who are tall and small; who are big-boned and bird-boned; who are ecto-, meso-, and endomorphic. So, as the theory goes, doesn't it make sense to also accept that the world is populated with people who exhibit at least as wide a variety of neurological traits?


neuroeconomics
investigations the goal of which is to observe and measure whats happening in the brain when people are making decisions.
Examples:
1) One definition of neuroeconomics might be animal spirits explained. ("Minneapolis Star Tribune", 17 Nov. 2002)
2) Zak is a leading protagonist in the relatively new field of neuroeconomics, which aims to understand human social interactions through every level from synapse to society. ("New Scientist", 10 May 2003)
Etymology, history:
Neuro+ economics.
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-", comb. form of "neuron" - "nerve", originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring," also "strength, vigor," from PIE "(s)neurom" (cf. L. "nervus").
"Economics" - from "economy" ("household management"), from L. "oeconomia", from Gk. "oikonomia", from "oikonomos" ("manager, steward"), from "oikos" - "house" (cognate with L. vicus "district," vicinus "near;" O.E. wic "dwelling, village") + "nomos" ("managing"), from "nemein" ("manage"). The sense of "manage the resources of a country" (short for political economy) is from 1651.
The proponent of neuroeconomics is Paul Zak, Associate Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University in California. His team uses magnetic resonance imaging and blood sampling to observe the way a persons brain works during the process, for example during a game of trust with other players. Its starting to look as though there may be biochemical underpinnings to our willingness to be co-operative and generous in economic negotiations, perhaps associated with a hormone called oxytocin. The field is expanding: the University of Minnesota held the first conference on neuroeconomics in October 2002.


neuromarketing

• neuroscientist
• neuroeconomics
• functional magnetic resonance imaging
• functional
• magnetic
• fMRI
• FMRI
• resonance
• imaging

the technique to show companies what people think of their products and television commercials.
Examples:
1) Neuromarketing could be useful in finding out how a consumer experiences a product. For instance, does the brain respond first to the crunching sound of a candy bar, or to its flavor? Neuromarketers are still exploring exactly what kind of information they can tease out of test subjects with questionnaires and fMRI scans. ("Newsweek International", 22 Mar. 2004)
2) Gary Ruskin, of Commercial Alert, doesn't buy the pitch that neuromarketing will help people. "I think they're spinning faster than a drill bit," he said. "It's plain old market research taken to a new and potentially more damaging level." ("Atlanta Journal and Constitution", 1 Feb. 2004)
Etymology, history:
Neuro + marketing
"Neuro-" - Gk. "neuro-", comb. form of "neuron" - "nerve", originally "sinew, tendon, cord, bowstring," also "strength, vigor," from PIE "(s)neurom" (cf. L. "nervus").
"Marketing" - from "market" - c.1154, "a meeting at a fixed time for buying and selling livestock and provisions", from O.N.Fr. "market" (O.Fr. "marchiet", Fr. "march?"), from L. mercatus "trading, trade, market" (cf. It. mercato, Sp. mercado), from pp. of "mercari" ("to trade, deal in, buy"), from "merx" (gen. mercis) - "wares, merchandise", from Italic root *merk-, possibly from Etruscan, referring to various aspects of economics. Meaning "public building or space where markets are held" first attested c.1250. Sense of "sales, as controlled by supply and demand" is from 1689. The verb is 1635, from the noun.
The neuroscientists - sciences of the brain - have made vast advances in the past two decades. A new generation of scanners has made it possible to see what's happening inside it while it's working. The most potent of these new technologies is "functional magnetic resonance imaging", "fMRI" for short, which takes a series of snapshots of brain activity; it's capable of showing moment by moment what thoughts are going on in the brain when a person undertakes some task, perhaps looking at a picture or listening to an audio soundtrack. The fMRI technique is a valuable research tool, but it's creating ethical issues for some neuroscientists, who worry that it may be possible to use it to unlock private thoughts and emotions. It is suggested that the technique might provide insights into what people think about when they are considering buying some product, a close relative of "neuroeconomics" (see).



nexus

• annex

[NEK-sus]
1. A connection, a link; a causal link.
Example:
The scientific study uncovered a nexus between unhealthy eating habits and certain forms of heart disease.
2. A connected group or series.
3. A center, a focus.
Example:
They are born into a nexus of interactions and relationships that shape the expression of their own needs from the very beginning.
Etymology, related words:
1663, "bond, link, means of communication," from Latin "nexus", pp. of "nectere" - "to bind."
"Nexus" is all about connections. A number of other English words are related to "nectere". The most obvious is "connect," but "annex" (meaning "to attach as an addition," or more specifically "to incorporate into a political domain") is related as well. When "nexus" came into English in the 17th century, it meant "connection." Eventually, it took on the additional meaning "connected series" (as in "a nexus of relationships"). In the past few decades it has taken a third meaning: "center" (as in "the trade nexus of the region"), perhaps from the notion that a point in the center of an arrangement serves to join together the objects that surround it.


nickel-and-dime

• nickel
• dime
• penny-pinch
• penny
• pinch
• small-time
• small
• time
• big bucks
• big buck
• big
• buck
• bucks

(Verb)
1. To spend money frugally; spend as little as possible Synonym: penny-pinch 2. To accumulate gradually.
(Adjective)
3. Of minor importance; unimportant, small-time, trivial, petty. Synonym: small-time 4. Low-paying.
Examples:
1) She nickeled-and-dimed together a small house for her family. 2) He has not a real job, but a nickel-and-dime one only.
3) A nickel-and-dime operation run out of a single rented room.
4) Even a small-time actor wants to play a part of Hamlet.
5) He said he worked for a big corporation, but it was really only a nickel-and-dime company.
History, antonym, more examples:
In this 20th-century African-American saying, "nickel-and-dime" refers to two of the smallest units of United States money. Anything that's "nickel-and-dime" is the opposite of "big bucks."
Note: This expression can also be used as a verb meaning to act in a cheap manner, as in "He never takes her to fancy restaurants. He always nickels and dimes her."

nictitate

• nictate
• nictitating membrane
• nictitating
• membrane

To wink.
Example:
Some flecks of dust had fluttered into Myron's eye, causing him to nictitate uncontrollably.
History, synonym, related words:
"Nictitate" didn't just happen in the blink of an eye; it developed over time as an alteration of the older verb "nictate," which also means "to wink." Both verbs trace to the Latin word for winking, "nictare." The addition of the extra syllable was apparently influenced by Latin verbs ending in "-itare," such as "palpitare" and "agitare" (which gave us "palpitate" and "agitate," respectively). Today, "nictitate" has a special use in the animal world. Since the early 18th century, scientists have used "nictitating membrane" to describe the so-called "third eyelid": the thin, usually transparent membrane in the eyes of birds, fishes, and other vertebrates that helps keep the eyeball moist and clean.


nidus

• nidification
• nidicolous
• nest

[NYE-dus]
1. A nest or breeding place; especially: a place or substance in an animal or plant where bacteria or other organisms lodge and multiply.
2. A place where something originates, develops, or is located.
Example:
The college, with its focus on human ecology, is widely known as a nidus of environmental activism.
History, related words:
The sciences use "nidus" to refer to a breeding ground, often a place where bacteria lodge and multiply. Thus, although it literally means "nest" in Latin, the word carries none of the positive connotations that "nest" has in English (such as "home"). Rather, a nidus is usually a source of infection or undesirable opinions or habits. But that hasn't kept other "nidus"-related words in English from referring to homier places, such as the nests where animals rear their young. We have "nidification," for the process of building a nest, and "nidicolous," meaning "reared in a nest."


nimbus
[NIM-buhs]
1. (Fine Arts) A circle, or disk, or any indication of radiant light around the heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon medals, pictures, etc.
Synonym: a halo.
2. A cloud or atmosphere (as of romance or glamour) that surrounds a person or thing.
3. (Meteorology) A rain cloud.
Examples:
1) Sometimes when she stood in front of a lamp, the highlights on her hair made a nimbus. (James Morgan, "The Distance to the Moon")
2) The two lights over the front steps were haloed with a hazy nimbus of mist, and strange insects fluttered up against the screen, fragile, wing-thin and blinded, dazed, numbed by the brilliance. (Karen V. Kukil (Editor), "The Journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950-1962")
3) Mara felt she could practically see a nimbus of light around her, like the biblical Esther before she becomes queen. (Anna Shapiro, "The Scourge")
4) Decorated in royal green and gold with crystal chandeliers and plush furniture, the office featured a lighted full-length portrait of Johnson leaning against a bookcase and two overhead lamps projecting "an impressive nimbus of golden light" as Lyndon sat at his desk. (Robert Dallek, "Flawed Giant")
Etymology:
"Nimbus" is from the Latin "nimbus" - "a rain cloud, a rain storm."


nimiety
[nih-MY-uh-tee]
The state of being too much; excess.
Examples:
1) What a nimiety of ... riches have we here! I am quite undone. (James J. Kilpatrick, "Buckley: The Right Word," National Review, December 23, 1996)
2) Just as daily life contains all the comforts of what one owns, there is also a natural shedding or forgetting and a natural dulling, otherwise one becomes burdened with a sense of nimiety, a sense (as Kenneth Clark put it in his autobiography) of the "too-muchness" of life. (Nicholas Poburko, "Poetry, Past And Present: F. T. Prince's Walks in Rome," Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, January 1, 1999)
Etymology:
"Nimiety" is from Late Latin "nimietas", from Latin "nimius" ("very much, too much"), from "nimis" ("excessively").


nineteen to the dozen

• twenty to the dozen
• 20 to the dozen
• ninety to the dozen
• 90 to the dozen
• ninety to dozen
• 90 to dozen
• ninety
• nineteen
• twenty
• dozen
• going ninety to nothing
• ninety to nothing
• ten to the dozen
• 10 to the dozen
• 19 to the dozen
• ten
• nothing

at a great rate, very fast.
Example:
If we now are going to inform you about Johns life then we are going to talk nineteen to the dozen from a forged scripture.
Synonyms:
twenty to the dozen; ninety to (the) dozen; ten to the dozen
History:
This goes back to the times of the Cornish tin and copper mines. These mines were often hit by floods. In the 18th century, coal-powered, steam-driven pumps were installed to clear the water. When working maximally the pumps could clear nineteen thousand gallons of water for every twelve bushels of coal. This, quite clearly, was very fast compared to the rate at which the earlier hand-powered pumps had cleared water. On the other hand, some sources say that it was the amount of water a steam engine could pump out of a coal mine when burning a specific amount of coal (19,000 gallons and 12 bushels, respectively). Recently, it most often refers to speed of speaking, as in this instance from the "Daily Mail" of 23 October 2003: "Talking nineteen to the dozen, her conversation is still peppered with outrageous references and bawdy asides." The idea is that the rate of talking is so great that when other people say merely a dozen words, the speaker gets in 19. It's also sometimes used to describe rapid heartbeat in times of danger, and to refer to other fast-moving or fast-changing things.
There are examples of "ninety to (the) dozen" to be found in various places, dating back to the late 1940s. But it's uncommon and seems to be a relatively modern variation on the older phrase. It may be linked to a characteristically North American expression, "going ninety to nothing", which the Dictionary of American Regional English records from 1950.


ninja

• ninjutsu

[NIN-juh]
A person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations.
Example:
Ninjas are thought to be able to run faster than ordinary men, scale impossible walls, and endure the severest of pain.
Etymology, related words:
Ninjas may seem mysterious, but the origin of their name is not. The word "ninja" derives from the Japanese characters "nin" and "ja." "Nin" initially meant "persevere," but over time it developed the extended meanings "conceal" and "move stealthily." In Japanese, "ja" means "person." Ninjas originated in the mountains of Japan over 800 years ago as practitioners of ninjutsu, a martial art sometimes called "the art of stealth" or "the art of invisibility." They often served as military spies and were trained in disguise, concealment, geography, meteorology, medicine, and also other martial arts. Popular legends still associate them with espionage and assassinations, but modern ninjas are most likely to study ninjutsu to improve their physical fitness and self-defense skills.


nitnoid
1. The capital city of Nokwood.
(American slang)
2. A niggling small matter of no consequence; a small mechanical device of little importance.
Example:
That nitnoid keeps the belt tight.
3. Something that's nit-pickingly frustrating.
4. A pedantic person intent on squashing the life out of some subject by considering every detail.
History, more examples:
The meanings of the word suggest a derivation from "nit" plus the suffix "-oid" to indicate something of a given nature (plus, to be nitnoid about the matter, an interpolated "n" to make it easier to say, and perhaps a trace more humorous). Examples include "he has written a book chock full of nitnoid detail", and "this man is a nitnoid perfectionist". A rare example in print appeared in the "Atlanta Constitution" in September 2001: "We need to appreciate every moment we have with each other and just be nicer and not get lost in the nitnoid frustrations of life."
Another suggestion is that the word derived from the Thai "nit noi", meaning "just a little"; it might have been brought back to the USA by servicemen returning from the Vietnam war.



nitty-gritty

• the nitty-gritty
• nitty
• gritty

Basic elements, fundamental parts, important elements (of a specific issue or problem); very important matters; the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; the specific heart of the matter; the practical details; the fundamental core of
something. Synonyms:
kernel, substance, core, center, crunch, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum.
Examples:
1) The nitty-gritty of an election is the vote itself - the numbers!
2) When you write your report, stick to the nitty-gritty.
History:
"Grit" means tiny, rough granules of stone or sand. Imagine you're trying to examine or explain something. Instead of wasting time on unimportant subjects, you concentrate on the grit, the small but basic and necessary points. "Nitty-gritty," a 20th-century African-American phrase, is a rhyming extension of the word "grit." "Grit" was stretched to "gritty" and was rhymed with "nitty" to make a colorful, fun phrase.

no dice

• dice
• futile
• all bets are off
• all
• bet
• be off
• bets
• no action
• action
• off

1. Of no avail; no use.
Synonym: futile
2. No; not so; certainly not; a refusal to accept a proposition.
3. A power pop album by Badfinger, released on November 9, 1970 (see 1970 in music). Their second album, "No Dice" significantly expanded Badfinger's popularity, especially abroad.
Examples:
1) I will never lend you that much money. No dice!
2) The No Dice album cover shows a picture of a woman with big hair wearing a bra and pointing her finger.
3) I asked my father for a raise in my allowance, but he said, "No dice!"
Etymology, synonyms:
This 20th-century American saying must come from gambling games that use dice. If there are no dice, there's no game, which should explain how this phrase came to mean "no!" "Dice" is from the Middle English "de" ("gaming die"), from Old French, from Latin "datum" ("given"), from neuter past participle of "dare" ("to give"). In dice games a throw that results in the dice not lying flat or piled on top of each other is invalid and considered 'no dice'.
On the other hand, in a legitimate casino, "no dice" is called by a supervisor or a floor boss when he suspects the dice in play were not handled in a correct or above-board manner by the shooter. This could mean he suspected a controlled shot (controlling the dice so that only certain numbers would have a higher probability of appearing on the
roll), or that the dice did not travel properly. (In North American casinos, at least one of the dice thrown must hit the opposite wall of the layout before coming to rest.) "No Dice" is proclaimed most often when one or both of the dice actually bounce off of the table. Actually, the dice can hit stacks of chips on the layout and that is perfectly acceptable - that is not reason enough to call "no dice". If one or both of the dice are "cocked" (i.e. it is resting tilted on an edge, not resting on a face), it is up to the supervisor or management to inspect the die in question and to make a determination which face is the uppermost. There are some stories that depending on how the money was being bet, the supervisor tended to rule on the side where the house lost the least... But stories like that seem to be urban legends.
Therefore the phrase "no dice" means no decision has been made or could possibly have been made due to other circumstances, similar to "all bets are off" and "no action".

no skin off one's nose

• skin off one's nose
• skin off your nose
• no skin off your nose
• skin off
• skin
• nose
• no skin off one's back
• skin off one's back
• back

No matter of interest, concern or trouble to one; of totally no concern to smb. whatsoever; it doesn't matter to smb. one way or the other.
Examples:
1) He doesn't care if I make the football team or not. It's no skin off his nose.
2) It is no skin off my nose whether or not she comes to the party.
3) Go to Jake's party if you wish. It's no skin off my nose.
4) Grace didn't pay any attention to our argument. It wasn't any skin off her nose.
5) You could at least say hello to our visitor. - It's no skin off your nose.
History:
This American idiom dates to the 1920s. Originally, the expression was "no skin off my back". "Nose" is more suitable because if you stick your nose into somebody's business, you can get it hurt.

no spring chicken

• spring chicken
• spring
• chicken

(Slang) Not young anymore; not a baby chick; not a young girl/boy.
Examples:
1) Grandma can't run and play the ball the way she used to. She's no spring chicken.
2) I don`t know how old she is but she is definitely no spring chicken.
History:
This saying has been around since the early 1800s, and, as a rule, it is applied to women, although there's no reason it couldn't refer to men, too. A spring chicken is a really young chick, like a baby. The expression began as "now past a chicken", and the saying today is a variation of the original.


no strings attached

• no
• strings
• attached
• string
• attach

Free of extra terms or limitations; without conditions or limits on use.
Examples:
1) Kim's parents pay for college education with no strings attached. She can go anywhere she wants to and study any subject she likes. 2) Peter gave Mary his pickup truck for free, no strings attached.
Etymology: A 'string' is a small rope. You can tie a string to something and thereby control it. If there are no strings attached to something, then it is free and without control or restrictions.


no-brainer

• no
• brainer

Something that is perfectly obvious; a problem that is easy to solve, requiring very little effort.
Examples:
1) Closing our store in Dallas was a no-brainer - it was losing a lot of money. 2) What's one plus two? That's a no-brainer!
Etymology: Your 'brain' is what you use to think, and some questions are so easy that you don't even have to think to get the right answer - 'no brain' is required.


noel
[noh-EL]
1. A Christmas carol.
Example:
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, sheet music publishers printed noels that often paired a semireligious text with a familiar Christmas melody.
2. Noel - Christmas.
Noels were being sung for centuries before the word found its way into our language in the 1800s. English speakers borrowed "noel" from French. But French speakers didn't coin the term; they borrowed it from the Latin "natalis," meaning "birthday" or "natal." (That's also a relative of the English word "natal," meaning "relating to birth.") "Natalis" in turn traces to "nasci" ("to be born"), which is an ancestor of various English words, including "nation," "native," and "nature."


noggling
(South Yorkshire dialect) An (indescribable chronic) pain.

noisome
[NOY-sum]
1. Noxious, harmful.
2. Offensive to the senses and especially to the sense of smell.
3. Highly obnoxious or objectionable.
Example:
The streets were narrow and very dirty, the air smoky and noisome, the people mostly wretched. ( Ken Follett, "The Man from St. Petersburg")
History, more examples:
Consider the two following sentences: "The babysitter tried to quiet the noisome children"; "My son works at a fish market, and his clothes bring a noisome stench into the house when he comes home." Which sentence uses "noisome" correctly? If you picked the second one, you chose correctly. Though "noisome" sounds like it might be a synonym of "noisy," it's not. Something noisome is disgusting, like that fishy stench, or harmful, the way toxic fumes or waste can be. "Noisome" does not come from "noise," but from the Middle English word "noysome," which has the same meaning as "noisome." The "noy" of "noysome" means "annoyance," and comes from Anglo-French "anui," which also means "annoyance."


noisy withdrawal

• noisy
• withdrawal
• noisily withdraw
• noisily
• withdraw

The public withdrawal of legal representation in which the departing lawyer, having knowledge of the client's existing or potential improprieties, disavows work done for the client and notifies the proper authorites of the withdrawal.
(v.) noisily withdraw
Examples:
1) Over objections from much of the legal profession, the SEC is preparing to approve a new rule this spring requiring attorneys like Emerson to blow the whistle when confronted with wrongdoing, sources close to the commission say. The two-part rule, likely to be adopted as soon as March or April, would put the burden on corporate directors to disclose to the SEC when a lawyer withdraws because of illicit activity. If the board fails to act, the lawyer would be required to step away from the client and report the wrongdoing--a measure known as a "noisy withdrawal." (Greg Burns, "Rule is readied on duties of lawyer", Chicago Tribune, February 1, 2004)
2) SEC regulations have now introduced a couple of new phrases into the US legal lexicon such as "up-the-ladder" reporting - where lawyers are required to bypass general counsel if there is no appropriate response to concerns and report directly to the audit committee or the board - and "noisy withdrawal" - where lawyers are required if necessary to resign with notice to the SEC where there has been a serious breach of securities law. (Jon Robins, "Let me in, I'm a lawyer", The Independent (London, England), May 10, 2004)
3) Permissible whistle-blowing on client fraud was abandoned in favor of noisy withdrawal from the representation; lawyers who do so may notify others only of the fact they are dropping a client or withdrawing an opinion. (Mary Morgan Stuart, "Ethical Dilemma? Dial H-A-Z-A-R-D", The American Lawyer, March, 1987)


nolens volens

• nolens
• volens

[NO-lenz-VO-lenz]
Whether unwilling or willing.
Examples:
1) Beneath the surface, little-noticed but fundamental changes are taking place that must compel both sides, nolens volens, sooner or later to reconfigure their tortured but inseparable relationship. (Bernard Wasserstein, "Israelis and Palestinians")
2) Events have put NATO in a position where it is the policeman of Europe and beyond, nolens volens. ("NATO then, Nato now," Daily Telegraph, April 23, 1999)
3) After all, I'm not sure that I'm so angry with them, for it means that now you've got to remain here indefinitely - nolens volens. (Mina McDonald, "True Stories Of The Great War: Some Experiences In Hungary," History of the World, January 1, 1992)
Etymology:
"Nolens volens" is from the Latin, from "nolle" ("to be unwilling") + "velle" ("to wish, to be willing").


nonpareil
[non-puh-REL]
1. Having no equal; peerless.
2. Something of unequaled excellence; a peerless thing or person.
3. A flat disk of chocolate covered with beads of colored sugar.
Examples:
1) It's not often that Mike Emrick, the nonpareil hockey voice, errs. His play by play is peerless. (Richard Sandomir, "Later Post Ensures That Derby Is Alone for Hammond's Dream Call," New York Times, May 4, 2001)
2) Some birds make and use tools and show evidence of culture, and many are vocalists nonpareil. (Bernd Heinrich, "So, This Parrot Comes Into a Bar and Says...," New York Times, January 30, 2000)
3) But when it comes to his profession, he is a nonpareil. (Peter Andrews, "A Jazzy Murder Case," New York Times, October 30, 1983)
4) Steve Redgrave won his third gold medal at his third successive Olympic Games and we hymned the man as if he were the greatest athlete we had ever seen: a superman, a nonpareil, a demigod walking the earth. (Simon Barnes, "Honour and praise to three athletes who graced the sporting arena," Times (London), December 27, 2000)
Etymology:
"Nonpareil" comes from Old French, from "non" ("not") + "pareil" ("equal"), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin "pariculus", diminutive of Latin "par" ("equal").


nose out of joint

• nose
• out of
• joint
• out

Someone's nose is out of joint (that is, not in its normal position) if he or she is annoyed.
Example:
Ian and Chung Ho were playing the backgammon. "Hold on, you can't take all of those pieces," said Chung Ho irritably.
"Don't get your nose out of joint," Ian said. "I'm just separating the red pieces from the
black pieces."

nosegay
[NOHZ-gay]
A bunch of odorous and showy flowers; a bouquet; a posy.
Examples:
1) There was the glamour of George Pollexfen's horses, racing under his colours of primrose and violet: the children went to Lissadell races with four horses and postilions, nosegays of primroses and violets pinned to their coats. (R. F. Foster, "W.B. Yeats: A Life",vol. 1)
2) "Fussing about in black smalls, silks, buckles, cocked hat, and always with a prodigious nosegay," Lowther could not conceivably have been a less romantic character. (Kenneth R. Johnston, "The Hidden Wordsworth")
3) The country is one big nosegay, the scents wonderful. (W. Morris)
Etymology:
"Nosegay" is nose and gay joined together to mean "something bright and showy that one holds to the nose."


nosocomial

• nosology
• zoonosis

acquired or occurring in a hospital.
Example:
The appendectomy itself went well, but the patient contracted a nosocomial infection afterward and wound up staying in the hospital longer than anticipated.
Etymology:
"Nosocomial" is a word that usually occurs in formal medical contexts; specifically, in reference to hospital- acquired sickness. The term descends from "nosocomium," the Late Latin word for "hospital." "Nosocomium" in turn traces to the Greek "nosos," meaning "disease." That root has given English other words as well, including "zoonosis" ("a disease communicable from animals to humans under natural conditions") and "nosology" ("a classification or list of diseases" or "a branch of medical science that deals with classification of diseases").


nostrum
[NOS-truhm]
1. A medicine of secret composition and unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack medicine.
2. A usually questionable remedy or scheme; a cure-all.
Examples:
1) James is put to work at country fairs, promoting a quack nostrum for pain relief. (Patrick McGrath, "Heart of Ice," New York Times, April 13, 1997)
2) His hopeful message attracted an audience eager to believe he had found the nostrum for all of society's ills. (Warren Sloat, "Looking Back at 'Looking Backward': We Have Seen the Future and It Didn't Work," New York Times, January 17, 1988)
3) Old ladies were always offering her their advice, recommending this or that nostrum. (Charlotte Bront?, "Shirley: A Tale")
Etymology:
"Nostrum" comes from Latin "nostrum (remedium)" - "our (remedy)," from "nos" ("we").


not by a long chalk

• by a long chalk
• long chalk
• long
• not by a long shot
• by a long shot
• long shot
• shot
• chalk

(Mainly British) Not by any means; not at all.
Example:
They weren't beaten yet, not by a long chalk.
History, synonym:
It goes back to the days in which a count or score of almost any kind was marked up on a convenient surface using chalk. At a pub or ale house this might be a note of the amount of credit you had been given (often called "the chalk" in the early 19th century), which Charles Dickens refers to in "Great Expectations": "There was a bar at the Jolly Bargemen, with some alarmingly long chalk scores in it on the wall at the side of the door, which seemed to me to be never paid off". But the expression almost certainly comes from the habit of using chalk in such establishments to mark the score in a game, a habit which now survives in British pubs mainly in the game of darts. A "chalk" was the name given a single mark or score, so that a person might explain that somebody or other had lost a game of skittles by four chalks or you needed 31 chalks to finish. If your opponent had a "long chalk", a big score, he was doing well. The expression indicates a determined intention to continue, though the game is going against you. Your opponent may have a long chalk, but you're not done for yet. For the earliest example, we must turn yet again to Thomas Chandler Haliburton of Nova Scotia, who included it several times in his book "The Clockmaker" of 1835: "Depend on it, Sir, said he, with a most philosophical air, this Province is much behind the intelligence of the age. But if it is behind us in that respect, it is a long chalk ahead on us in others". A related expression is "not by a long shot". However, this is originally a military idiom, based on the difficulty of hitting a target at long range, hence an outside chance.

not one's cup of tea

• not my cup of tea
• one's cup of tea
• my cup of tea
• cup of tea
• cup
• tea

Something not to your liking; something you don't like to do; not what one likes or prefers; not suitable; not to one's taste.
Examples:
1) Some people love football, but it's not my cup of tea. I prefer bowling. 2) Do I like Brittany Spears? No, that kind of music isn't my cup of tea.
3) Please show me another hat. This one's not my cup of tea.
Etymology: This is a 19th century British phrase. In Britain, tea has been an extremely popular drink since the mid-1700s. Even now many English people have a cup of tea every mid-afternoon, and there are many different flavors to choose from. In the late 1800s, people in England started saying that something they liked was their "cup of tea." Later, probably in the 1920s, the expression took on its present meaning.


nothing to sneeze at

• nothing to sneeze
• nothing to
• sneeze
• nothing

Something you should take seriously; not small or unimportant; something to be taken seriously.
Examples:
1) His new salary is nothing to sneeze at.
2) He won the silver medal, not the gold. That's nothing to sneeze at.
History:
In the early 1800s people were already using this saying. Perhaps it comes from the idea of turning your nose up at something or someone to express scorn or contempt. Since sneezes come from your nose, something that's "not to be sneezed at" should be treated as important and worthy.


nugatory
[NOO-guh-tor-ee; NYOO-]
1. Trifling; insignificant; inconsequential.
2. Having no force; inoperative; ineffectual.
Examples:
1) Tygiel's forte as a historian is his eye for what may appear nugatory or marginal but, when focused upon, illuminates the temper of a given moment. (Roberto Gonzlez Echevarria, "From Ruth to Rotisserie," New York Times, July 2, 2000)
2) Jacoby's offense was no offense - or an error so nugatory as to demand no more than a one-sentence explanation. (Lance Morrow, "In Boston, a Foolish Consistency of Little Minds," Time, July 19, 2000)
3) Socialism no longer restrains; trade unions do so much less than they did; moral inhibitions over the acquisition and display of wealth are nugatory. (John Lloyd, "If not socialism, what will persuade the rich willingly to pay more taxes to help the poor and preserve a decent society?" New Statesman, August 2, 1996)
Etymology:
"Nugatory" comes from Latin "nugatorius", from "nugari" ("to trifle"), from "nugae" ("jests, trifles").


nuke
1. To cook or re-heat food in a microwave oven.
Example: Frozen food is so easy - just nuke it for two minutes and you're ready to eat!
Etymology: Refers to the powerful and possibly deadly effects of 'nuclear' devices, such as reactors and bombs.
2. A nuclear warhead or missile, or the act of using a nuclear warhead or missile.
Examples:
1) The United States and Russia control most of the nukes in the world.
2) Although the Cold War is over, there is still a threat that terrorists might nuke us all back to the Stone Age.

numen
[NOO-mun]
A spiritual force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon, or place.
Example:
We were in a village that had hardly changed in a thousand years, and we felt a numen that transcended earthly religions and human histories.
History:
How did "numen," a Latin term meaning "nod of the head," come to be associated with spiritual power? The answer lies in the fact that the ancient Romans saw divine force and power operating in the inanimate objects and nonhuman phenomena around them. They believed that the gods had the power to command events and to consent to actions, and the idea of a god nodding suggested his or her awesome abilities - divine power. Eventually, Latin speakers began using "numen" to describe the special divine force of any object, place, or phenomenon that inspired awe (a mystical-seeming wooded grove, for example, or the movement of the sun), and "numen" made the semantic leap from "nod" to "divine will or power." English speakers adopted the word during the 1600s.


numinous

• numinousness
• numinosity

[NOO-min-uhs; NYOO]
1. Of or pertaining to a numen; supernatural, mysterious
2. Indicating or suggesting the presence of a god; filled with a sense of the presence of divinity
Synonym: divine; holy
3. Inspiring awe and reverence; spiritual; appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense
Synonym: spiritual
Examples:
1) Manifold forms of eucalyptus and acacia gave the . . . Australian bush its numinous and magical beauty. (Jill Ker Conway, "The New York Times Book Review", March 10, 1991)
2) Smoking is a ritual, and it has all the numinous force of a ritual. (Thomas W. Laqueur, "The New Republic", September 18, 1995)
3) All Quests are concerned with some numinous Object, the Waters of Life, the Grail, buried treasure, etc. (W. H. Auden, "Secular Hobbitism" review of "The Fellowship of the Ring", by J. R. R. Tolkien, New York Times)
4) Our culture is not much concerned with the numinous, but in language we preserve many of the marks of a culture that is. (Richard Mitchell, "Less Than Words Can Say")
5) My sense of the numinous is generally keenest upstate, in the fields and forest that surround my old schoolhouse. (Winifred Gallagher, "Working on God")
Etymology, relates words:
"Numinous" is from Latin "numen", literally a "nod of the head" (as in giving a command), hence "divine power." English speakers have been using "numen", with the meaning "a spiritual force or influence", since the early 1600s. Although Latin users didn't feel the need of a related adjective, English speakers apparently did. We began using "numinous" in the mid-1600s, subsequently endowing it with several senses: "supernatural" or "mysterious" (as in "possessed of a numinous energy force"), "holy" (as in "the numinous atmosphere of the catacombs"), and "appealing to the aesthetic sense" (as in "the numinous nuances of her art").
Related nouns are numinousness, numinosity.


numismatic

• numismatics
• numismatist

[noo-miz-MAT-ik]
1. Of or relating to the study or collection of coins, tokens, and money.
2. Of or relating to currency; monetary.
Example:
Jason was disappointed to learn that the 1936 buffalo nickel he owned had virtually no numismatic value.
History, related words:
The first metal coins are believed to have been used as currency by the Lydians, a people of Asia Minor, during the 7th century BC, and it is likely that folks began collecting coins not long after that. The name that we give to the collection of coins today is "numismatics," a word that also encompasses the collection of paper money and of medals. The noun "numismatics" and the adjective "numismatic" came to English (via French "numismatique") from Latin and Greek "nomisma," meaning "coin." "Nomisma" in turn derives from the Greek verb "nomizein" ("to use") and ultimately from the noun "nomos" ("custom" or "usage"). From these roots we also get "numismatist," referring to a person who collects coins, medals, or paper money.


nurture

• nourish

[NER-cher]
1. To supply with nourishment.
2. To educate.
3. To further the development of; to foster.
Example:
Karen carefully nurtured the tomato seedlings, providing them with optimum water and sunlight.
History, synonyms, related words:
It's no coincidence that "nurture" is a synonym of "nourish" - both are derived from the Latin verb "nutrire," meaning "to suckle" or "to nourish." The noun "nurture" first appeared in English in the 14th century, but the verb didn't arrive until the 15th century. Originally, the verb "nurture" meant "to feed or nourish." The sense meaning "to promote the development of" didn't come into being until the end of the 18th century. Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of "Frankenstein"-author Mary Shelley, is credited with first giving life to that sense in her "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792): "Public spirit must be nurtured by private virtue." Other "nutrire" descendants in English include "nutrient," "nutritious," "nutriment," "nutrition," and, of course, "nourishment."


nutri-washing

• nutriwashing
• washing
• nutri-wash
• nutriwash
• greenwashing

The same type of public-relations puffery as greenwashing, but done by major food companies (collectively and pejoratively called Big Food, in imitation of Big Pharma, a term for the pharmaceuticals industry) to offset current criticism about the high salt, fat, and sugar levels in their products.
Examples:
1) It's hardly surprising, then that nutri-washing, the adolescent cousin of greenwashing, is taking off in the food industry. Nutri-washing uses corporate spin to pass greasy foodstuffs off as healthy necessities, making it increasingly difficult for consumers to tell the meat from the gristle. (Brendan Themes)
2) Years ago, the environmental movement coined the term "greenwashing" to describe how corporations use public relations to make themselves appear environmentally friendly. Now, nutrition advocates need their own moniker for a similar trend among major food companies - call it "nutri-washing." (Michele Simon, "You Are What You Eat: Get rid of those empty calories with 'nutri-wash'")
History:
The word appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in September 2004, and has been widely copied in newsletters online. It's based on "greenwashing", the name that environmentalists give to disinformation from big businesses who falsely try to present an environmentally responsible public image.



nutty as a fruitcake

• as nutty as a fruitcake
• nutty
• fruitcake

Very crazy; crazy or extremely strange in behavior or dress.
Examples:
1) The woman who lives next door to us is as nutty as a fruitcake.
2) I was convinced that Brian's uncle was as nutty as a fruitcake.
History:
This widely used saying originated in America in the 1920s. "Nutty" was slang for crazy; a "nut" was an eccentric person who seemed abnormal in the way he or she appeared or dressed. Fruitcakes are made with plenty of nuts, so if a person is as "nutty as a fruitcake", he or she is really strange.