News - Nickname

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News (nūz), n [From New; cf. F. nounelles. News is plural in form, but is commonly used with a singular verb.] 1. A report of recent occurrences; information of something that has lately taken place, or of something before unknown; fresh tidings; recent intelligence.
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Evil news rides post, while good news baits. Milton.
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2. Something strange or newly happened.
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It is no news for the weak and poor to be a prey to the strong and rich. L'Estrange.
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3. A bearer of news; a courier; a newspaper. [Obs.]
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There cometh a news thither with his horse. Pepys.
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news-book (?), n. A newspaper. [Obs.]
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newsboy (?), n. A boy who distributes or sells newspapers.
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newscaster n. Someone who broadcasts the news.
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newsless adj. 1. not having or receiving news or information.
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2. not providing news or information; as, a newsless day.
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newsletter, news-letter (?), n. A circular letter, written or printed for the purpose of disseminating news. This was the name given to the earliest English newspapers.
Syn. -- newssheet.
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Newsman (?), n.; pl. Newsmen (�). 1. One who brings news. [Obs.] Spenser.
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2. A man who distributes or sells newspapers.
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Newsmonger (?), n. One who deals in news; one who is active in hearing and telling news.
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Newspaper (?), n. A sheet of paper printed and distributed, at stated intervals, for conveying intelligence of passing events, advocating opinions, etc.; a public print that circulates news, advertisements, proceedings of legislative bodies, public announcements, etc.
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newsprint n. Cheap paper made from wood pulp and used for printing newspapers.
Syn. -- newspaper.
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new-sprung adj. 1. having just or recently arisen or come into existence. [prenominal]
Syn. -- newborn, newly arisen.
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newsroom (?), n. A room where news is collected and disseminated, located in the offices of a newspaper, magazine, or news broadcast organization; as, the CBS newsroom.
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2. A room where periodicals are sold; a reading room supplied with newspapers, magazines, etc.
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News-vender (?), n. A seller of newspapers.
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newsworthy adj. Sufficiently interesting to be reported in a newspaper; as, a dog biting a man is not a newsworthy item.
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News-writer (?), n. One who gathers news for, and writes, news-letters, articles in news periodicals, or items for broadcast on news programs.
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Newsy (?), a. Full of news; abounding in information as to current events. [Colloq.]
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Newt (?), n. [OE. ewt, evete, AS. efete, with n prefixed, an ewt being understood as a newt. Cf. .] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of small aquatic salamanders. The common British species are the crested newt (Triton cristatus) and the smooth newt (Lophinus punctatus). In America, Diemictylus viridescens is one of the most abundant species.
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New Thought. Any form of belief in mental healing, other than (1) Christian Science and (2) hypnotism or psychotherapy. It was practised in the 19th century, and its central principle was affirmative thought, or suggestion, employed with the conviction that man produces changes in his health, his finances, and his life by the adoption of a favorable mental attitude. As a therapeutic doctrine it stands for silent and absent mental treatment, and the theory that all diseases are mental in origin. As a cult it has its unifying idea the inculcation of workable optimism in contrast with the “old thought” of sin, evil, predestination, and pessimistic resignation. The term is essentially synonymous with the term High Thought, used in England. -- New Thoughter, n. -- New Thoughtist, n.
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Newtonian (?), a. Of or pertaining to Sir Isaac Newton, or his discoveries.
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Coloq. Newtonian philosophy , the philosophy of Sir Isaac Newton; -- applied to the doctrine of the universe as expounded in Newton's “Principia,” to the modern or experimental philosophy (as opposed to the theories of Descartes and others), and, most frequently, to the mathematical theory of universal gravitation. -- Coloq. Newtonian telescope (Astron.), a reflecting telescope, in which rays from the large speculum are received by a plane mirror placed diagonally in the axis, and near the open end of the tube, and thrown at right angles toward one side of the tube, where the image is formed and viewed through the eyeplace. -- Coloq. Newtonian theory of light . See Note under .
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Newtonian, n. A follower of Newton.
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New-year (?), a. Of or pertaining to, or suitable for, the commencement of the year; as, New-year gifts or odes.
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New Year's Day (?). the first day of a calendar year; the first day of January. Often colloquially abbreviated to New year's or new year.
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New Zealand (?). A group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
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Coloq. New Zealand flax . (a) (Bot.) A tall, liliaceous herb (Phormium tenax), having very long, sword-shaped, distichous leaves which furnish a fine, strong fiber very valuable for cordage and the like. (b) The fiber itself. -- Coloq. New Zealand tea (Bot.), a myrtaceous shrub (Leptospermum scoparium) of New Zealand and Australia, the leaves of which are used as a substitute for tea.
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Nexible (?), a. [L. nexibilis, from nectere, nexum, to bind.] That may be knit together. [R.]
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Next (nĕkst), a., superl. of . [AS. nēhst, niéhst, nȳhst, superl. of neáh nigh. See .] 1. Nearest in place; having no similar object intervening. Chaucer.
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Her princely guest
Was next her side; in order sat the rest. Dryden.
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Fear followed me so hard, that I fled the next way. Bunyan.
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2. Nearest in time; as, the next day or hour.
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3. Adjoining in a series; immediately preceding or following in order.
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None could tell whose turn should be the next. Gay.
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4. Nearest in degree, quality, rank, right, or relation; as, the next heir was an infant.
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The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Ruth ii. 20.
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☞ Next is usually followed by to before an object, but to is sometimes omitted. In such cases next in considered by many grammarians as a preposition.
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Coloq. Next friend (Law), one who represents an infant, a married woman, or any person who can not appear sui juris, in a suit at law.
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Next, adv. In the time, place, or order nearest or immediately succeeding; as, this man follows next.
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Nexus (?), n. [L.] Connection; tie.
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Man is doubtless one by some subtile nexus . . . extending from the new-born infant to the superannuated dotard. De Quincey.
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next-to-last adj. next preceding the last; as, the figures in the next-to-last column. [Narrower terms: junior(prenominal), third-year]
Syn. -- penultimate.
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Nez Percés (?), pl.; sing. Nez PercÉ (�). [F., pierced noses.] (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians, in the late 1800's mostly inhabiting Idaho. They were involved under Chief Joseph, in the last major battle of the Indian wars, attempting to resist being moved to a reservation.
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Ngina (n'gēnȧ), n. [Native name.] The gorilla.
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niacin n. A B vitamin (vitamin B₅) essential for the normal function of the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. Called also nicotinic acid and antipellagra vitamin. Chemical formula C6H5NO2, chemically it is 3-pyridinecarboxylic acid.
Syn. -- nicotinic acid.
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niacinamide n. The amide of niacin (nicotinic acid), called also nicotinamide. It was at one time called vitamin B₃, and can function to relieve nicotinic acid deficiency. Chemical formula C6H6N2O, chemically it is 3-pyridinecarboxamide.
Syn. -- nicotinic acid amide, nicotinamide.
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niagara n. lower case [from the famous water falls.] A large flow, used figuratively.
Syn. -- cascade.
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Niagara, Niagara Falls prop. n. A large waterfall on the Niagara River near Buffalo remarkable for the volume and constancy of the water flowing over it. That part of the waterfall in Canada is the Horseshoe Falls; the U. S. portion is called the American Falls.
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Niagara, Niagara River prop. n. A river flowing from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, which forms the boundary between Ontario and New York.
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Niagara period (?). (Geol.) A subdivision or the American Upper Silurian system, embracing the Medina, Clinton, and Niagara epoch. The rocks of the Niagara epoch, mostly limestones, are extensively distributed, and at Niagara Falls consist of about eighty feet of shale supporting a greater thickness of limestone, which is gradually undermined by the removal of the shale. See Chart of .
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Niamey prop. n. The capital city of Niger.
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Nias (?), n. [F. niais. See .] A young hawk; an eyas; hence, an unsophisticated person. [Obs.]
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Nib (nĭb), n. [A variabt of neb.] 1. A small and pointed thing or part; a point; a prong. “The little nib or fructifying principle.” Sir T. Browne.
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2. (Zoöl.) The bill or beak of a bird; the neb.
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3. The points of a pen; also, the pointed part of a pen; a short pen adapted for insertion in a holder.
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4. One of the handles which project from a scythe snath; also, [Prov. Eng.], the shaft of a wagon.
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5. pl. See his nibs, below.
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Coloq. his nibs Someone who gives a command or makes a demand, often one who acts in a self-important manner, sometimes one with authority; -- used mockingly as a jocose term, as if a title of honor, but not usually in the presence of the person referred to, and usually indicating resentment or contempt. [Colloq.]
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Nib, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nebbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Nibbing.] To furnish with a nib; to point; to mend the point of; as, to nib a pen.
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Nibbed (?), a. Having a nib or point.
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Nibble (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nibbled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Nibbling (?).] [Cf. .] To bite by little at a time; to seize gently with the mouth; to eat slowly or in small bits.
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Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep. Shak.
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Nibble, v. t. To bite upon something gently or cautiously; to eat a little of a thing, as by taking small bits cautiously; as, fishes nibble at the bait.
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Instead of returning a full answer to my book, he manifestly falls a-nibbling at one single passage. Tillotson.
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nibble, n. 1. A small or cautious bite.
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2. Hence: (Fig.) An expression of interest, often tentative, as at the beginning of a sale or negotiation process.
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Nibbler (?), n. One who, or that which, nibbles.
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Nibblingly (?), adv. In a nibbling manner; cautiously.
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Nibelungenlied (?), n. [G. See ; .] A great medieval German epic of unknown authorship containing traditions which refer to the Burgundians at the time of Attila (called Etzel in the poem) and mythological elements pointing to heathen times.
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Nibelungs (?), n. pl.; sing. Nibelung (�) . In German mythology, the children of the mist, a race of dwarfs or demonic beings, the original possessors of the famous hoard and ring won by Siegfrid; also, the Burgundian kings in the Nibelungenlied.
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Niblick (?), n. A kind of golf stick used to lift the ball out of holes, ruts, etc.
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nibs (nĭbz), n. pl. See his nibs under , n.
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Nicagua (?), n. (Zoöl.) The laughing falcon. See under .
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Nicaraguan prop. adj. 1. of or pertaining to Nicaragua; as, Nicaraguan earthquakes.
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2. Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of Nicaragua; as, Nicaraguan orphans.
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Nicaraguan prop. n. A native or inhabitant of Nicaragua.
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Nicaragua wood (?). Brazil wood.
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Niccolite (?), n. [from NL. niccolum nickel.] (Min.) A mineral of a copper-red color and metallic luster; an arsenide of nickel; -- called also coppernickel, kupfernickel.
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Nice (nīs), a. [Compar. Nicer (nīsẽr); superl. Nicest.] [OE., foolish, fr. OF. nice ignorant, fool, fr. L. nescius ignorant; ne not + scius knowing, scire to know. Perhaps influenced by E. nesh delicate, soft. See , and .] 1. Foolish; silly; simple; ignorant; also, weak; effeminate. [Obs.] Gower.
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But say that we ben wise and nothing nice. Chaucer.
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2. Of trifling moment; unimportant; trivial. [Obs.]
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The letter was not nice, but full of charge
Of dear import. Shak.
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3. Overscrupulous or exacting; hard to please or satisfy; fastidious in small matters.
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Curious not knowing, not exact but nice. Pope.
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And to taste
Think not I shall be nice. Milton.
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4. Delicate; refined; dainty; pure.
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Dear love, continue nice and chaste. Donne.
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A nice and subtile happiness. Milton.
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5. Apprehending slight differences or delicate distinctions; distinguishing accurately or minutely; carefully discriminating; as, a nice taste or judgment. “Our author happy in a judge so nice.” Pope. “Nice verbal criticism.” Coleridge.
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6. Done or made with careful labor; suited to excite admiration on account of exactness; evidencing great skill; exact; fine; finished; as, nice proportions, nice workmanship, a nice application; exactly or fastidiously discriminated; requiring close discrimination; as, a nice point of law, a nice distinction in philosophy.
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The difference is too nice
Where ends the virtue, or begins the vice. Pope.
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7. Pleasing; agreeable; gratifying; delightful; good; as, a nice party; a nice excursion; a nice day; a nice sauce, etc. [Loosely & Colloquially]
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8. Pleasant; kind; as, a nice person.
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9. Hence: Well-mannered; well-behaved; as, nice children.
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He's making a list, checking it twice.
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town. Song.

Coloq. To make nice of , to be scrupulous about. [Obs.] Shak.
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Syn. -- Dainty; delicate; exquisite; fine; accurate; exact; correct; precise; particular; pleasant; kind; scrupulous; punctilious; fastidious; squeamish; finical; effeminate; silly; well-mannered; well-behaved.
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Nicely adv. In a nice manner.
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Nicene (?), a. [L. Nicaenus, fr. Nicaea Nice, Gr. �.] Of or pertaining to Nice, a town of Asia Minor, or to the ecumenical council held there a. d. 325.
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Coloq. Nicene Creed (�), a summary of Christian faith, composed and adopted by the Council of Nice, against Arianism, a. d. 325, altered and confirmed by the Council of Constantinople, a. d. 381, and by subsequent councils.
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Niceness (?), n. Quality or state of being nice.
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Nicery (?), n. Nicety. [Colloq.] Chapman.
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Nicety (?), n.; pl. Niceties (#). [OE. niceté foolishness.] 1. The quality or state of being nice (in any of the senses of that word.).
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The miller smiled of her nicety. Chaucer.
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2. Delicacy or exactness of perception; minuteness of observation or of discrimination; precision.
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3. A delicate expression, act, mode of treatment, distinction, or the like; a minute distinction.
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The fineness and niceties of words. Locke.
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Coloq. To a nicety , with great exactness or accuracy.
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Niche (nĭch), n. [F., fr. It. nicchia, prop., a shell-like recess in a wall, fr. nicchio a shellfish, mussel, fr. L. mytilus.] A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament. Hence, any similar position, literal or figurative.
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Images defended from the injuries of the weather by niches of stone wherein they are placed. Evelun.
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Niched. (nĭcht), a. Placed in a niche. “Those niched shapes of noble mold.” Tennyson.
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nichts n. [German nothing.] A quantity of no importance; nothing. [slang]
Syn. -- nothing, nihil, nix, nada, aught, cipher, cypher, goose egg, naught, nil, zero, zilch, zip.
[WordNet 1.5]

Nick (nĭk), n. [AS. nicor a marine monster; akin to D. nikker a water spite, Icel. nykr, ONG. nihhus a crocodile, G. nix a water sprite; cf. Gr. niptein to wash, Skr. nij. Cf. .] (Northern Myth.) An evil spirit of the waters.
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Coloq. Old Nick , the evil one; the devil. [Colloq.]
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Nick, n. [Akin to .] 1. A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Obs.] (b) (Print.) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution. W. Savage.
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2. Hence: A broken or indented place in any edge or surface; as, nicks in a china plate; a nick in the table top.
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3. A particular point or place considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
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To cut it off in the very nick. Howell.
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This nick of time is the critical occasion for the gaining of a point. L'Estrange.
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Nick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nicked (nĭkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Nicking.] 1. To make a nick or nicks in; to notch; to keep count of or upon by nicks; as, to nick a stick, tally, etc.
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2. To mar; to deface; to make ragged, as by cutting nicks or notches in; to create a nick{2} in, deliberately or accidentally; as, to nick the rim of a teacup.
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And thence proceed to nicking sashes. Prior.
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The itch of his affection should not then
Have nicked his captainship. Shak.
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3. To suit or fit into, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
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Words nicking and resembling one another are applicable to different significations. Camden.
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4. To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike at the precise point or time.
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The just season of doing things must be nicked, and all accidents improved. L'Estrange.
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5. To make a cross cut or cuts on the under side of (the tail of a horse, in order to make him carry it higher).
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Nick, v. t. To nickname; to style. [Obs.]
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For Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me. Ford.
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{ Nickar nut (?), Nickar tree (?) }. (Bot.) Same as , .
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Nickel (?), n. [G., fr. Sw. nickel, abbrev. from Sw. kopparnickel copper-nickel, a name given in derision, as it was thought to be a base ore of copper. The origin of the second part of the word is uncertain. Cf. , .] 1. (Chem.) A bright silver-white metallic element of atomic number 28. It is of the iron group, and is hard, malleable, and ductile. It occurs combined with sulphur in millerite, with arsenic in the mineral niccolite, and with arsenic and sulphur in nickel glance. Symbol Ni. Atomic weight 58.70.
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☞ On account of its permanence in air and inertness to oxidation, it is used in the smaller coins, for plating iron, brass, etc., for chemical apparatus, and in certain alloys, as german silver. It is magnetic, and is very frequently accompanied by cobalt, both being found in meteoric iron.
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2. A small coin made of or containing nickel; esp., a five-cent piece. [Colloq. U.S.]
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Coloq. Nickel silver , an alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc; -- usually called german silver; called also argentan.
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nickel-and-dime (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. nickel-and-dimed or nickeled-and-dimed (#); p. pr. & vb. n. nickel-and-diming or nickeling-and-diming.] 1. To harass or annoy with petty demands or for trivial reasons; specifically, to insist on minor concessions in a negotiation.
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2. To weaken or impair gradually or by small steps; as, to be nickel-and-dimed into bankruptcy by the operating overhead. [informal]
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nickel-and-dime (?), a. 1. Trivial; unimportant; petty; as, nickel-and-dime criticisms. [informal]
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2. Involving only small amounts of money; small-time; as, a nickel-and-dime business operation. [informal]
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Nickelic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or containing, nickel; specifically, designating compounds in which, as contrasted with the nickelous compounds, the metal has a higher valence; as nickelic oxide.
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Nickeliferous (?), a. [Nickel + -ferous.] Containing nickel; as, nickelferous iron.
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Nickeline (? or ?), n. 1. (Chem.) An alloy of nickel, a variety of German silver.
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2. (Min.) Niccolite.
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nickelodeon (?), n. [Nickel + odeon.] 1. A place of entertainment, as for moving picture exhibition, charging a fee or admission price of five cents. [U. S.]
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2. An early version of a jukebox that was operated by insertion of a nickel{2}.
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3. (capitalized) The name of a Cable Television channel, specializing in programs for children. [Trademark]
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Nickelous (?), a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, those compounds of nickel in which, as contrasted with the nickelic compounds, the metal has a lower valence; as, nickelous oxide. Frankland.
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Nickel steel. A kind of cast steel containing nickel, which greatly increases its strength. It is used for armor plate, bicycle tubing, propeller shafts, etc.
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Nicker (?), n. [From , v. t.] 1. One of the night brawlers of London formerly noted for breaking windows with half-pence. [Cant] Arbuthnot.
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2. The cutting lip which projects downward at the edge of a boring bit and cuts a circular groove in the wood to limit the size of the hole that is bored.
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Nicker nut (?). A rounded seed, rather smaller than a nutmeg, having a hard smooth shell, and a yellowish or bluish color. The seeds grow in the prickly pods of tropical, woody climbers of the genus Cæsalpinia. Cæsalpinia Bonduc has yellowish seeds; Cæsalpinia Bonducella, bluish gray. [Spelt also neckar nut, nickar nut.]
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Nicker tree (?). (Bot.) The plant producing nicker nuts. [Written also neckar tree and nickar tree.]
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Nicking, n. [From , v. t.] (Coal Mining) (a) The cutting made by the hewer at the side of the face. (b) pl. Small coal produced in making the nicking.
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Nickle (?), n. (Zoöl.) The European woodpecker, or yaffle; -- called also nicker pecker.
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Nicknack (?), n. See .
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Nicknackery (?), n. See .
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nickname (?), n. [OE. ekename surname, hence, a nickname, an ekename being understood as a nekename, influenced also by E. nick, v. See , and .] A name given in affectionate familiarity, sportive familiarity, contempt, or derision; a familiar or an opprobrious appellation; as, Nicholas's nickname is Nick.
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Nickname, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nicknamed (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Nicknaming.] To give a nickname to; to call by a nickname.
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You nickname virtue; vice you should have spoke. Shak.
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I altogether disclaim what has been nicknamed the doctrine of finality. Macaulay.
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