<B>nidge, </B>transitive verb, <B>nidged,</B> <B>nidging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to dress (stone) with a sharp-pointed hammer instead of a chisel and mallet; nig. </DL>
<A NAME="nidhoggr">
<B>Nidhoggr, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Norse Mythology.) a giant serpent that continually gnawed at the root of the Yggdrasil to bring the tree down and the gods with it. </DL>
<A NAME="nidicolous">
<B>nidicolous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that remains in the nest for some time after hatching; altricial. <BR> <I>Ex. Nidicolous species ... are born or hatched in a relatively helpless or dependent state (Gilbert Gottlieb).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nidificate">
<B>nidificate, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-cated,</B> <B>-cating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to build a nest; nidify. </DL>
<A NAME="nidification">
<B>nidification, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the process or the manner of building a nest. </DL>
<A NAME="nidifugous">
<B>nidifugous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that leaves the nest a short time after hatching; precocial. <BR> <I>Ex. Birds ... may be divided into two main types, those having nidifugous or 'nest-quitting' young, and those having nidicolous or 'nest-dwelling' young (A. L. Thomson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nidify">
<B>nidify, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-fied,</B> <B>-fying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to build a nest or nests. </DL>
<B>nidulant, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) <DD><B> 1. </B>lying free, or partially embedded, in a nestlike receptacle, as sporangia. <DD><B> 2. </B>lying loose in a pulp, as seeds. </DL>
<A NAME="nidus">
<B>nidus, </B>noun, pl. <B>-di,</B> <B>-duses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a nest in which insects, snails, and certain other small animals, deposit their eggs. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a place or source of origin or development. </DL>
<A NAME="niece">
<B>niece, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a daughter of one's brother or sister. <DD><B> 2. </B>a daughter of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law. <DD><B> 3. </B>an illegitimate daughter of an ecclesiastic (used as a euphemism). </DL>
<A NAME="niellist">
<B>niellist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a worker in niello. </DL>
<A NAME="niello">
<B>niello, </B>noun, pl. <B>-elli,</B> <B>-ellos,</B> verb, <B>-elloed,</B> <B>-elloing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a black alloy of silver, lead, copper, and sulfur, with which engraved designs on silver or other metals are filled in, to produce an ornamental effect. <DD><B> 2. </B>ornamental work done by the application of niello. <DD><B> 3. </B>an example of this. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to inlay with niello. </DL>
<A NAME="nielloware">
<B>nielloware, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> articles inlaid or ornamented with niello. </DL>
<A NAME="nielsenrating">
<B>Nielsen rating,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) the percentage of households tuned in to a television or radio program, based upon an automatic sampling of households by the A.C. Nielsen marketing research organization. <BR> <I>Ex. Sitcoms and police dramas run on for years, sustained by high Nielsen ratings (Discover).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nietzschean">
<B>Nietzschean, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the German philosopher Nietzsche or his doctrines. <DD><I>noun </I> a believer in or supporter of the doctrines of Nietzsche. </DL>
<A NAME="nietzscheanism">
<B>Nietzscheanism, </B>noun. =Nietzscheism.</DL>
<A NAME="nietzscheism">
<B>Nietzscheism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the doctrines of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher and writer, especially the doctrine that human beings could attain perfection only through ruthless self-assertion. From this doctrine stemmed the concept of a type of man, the superman, superior to all others, who was morally justified in using force to achieve his goals. </DL>
<A NAME="nieve">
<B>nieve, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a fist. <BR> <I>Ex. The cudgel in my nieve did shake (Robert Burns).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nifelheim">
<B>Nifelheim, </B>noun. =Niflheim.</DL>
<A NAME="niffer">
<B>niffer, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to exchange. <DD><I>noun </I> an exchange. </DL>
<A NAME="niflheim">
<B>Niflheim, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Norse Mythology.) the region of eternal cold, darkness, and fog in the extreme north. </DL>
<A NAME="niflheimr">
<B>Niflheimr, </B>noun. =Niflheim.</DL>
<A NAME="niftily">
<B>niftily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a nifty manner. </DL>
<A NAME="niftiness">
<B>niftiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the condition or quality of being nifty. </DL>
<A NAME="nifty">
<B>nifty, </B>adjective, <B>-tier,</B> <B>-tiest,</B> noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>attractive or stylish; smart. <BR> <I>Ex. Hetty ... looking so fresh and nifty and feminine (H. L. Wilson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>fine; splendid. <BR> <I>Ex. Bruce Kelly scored a tying goal ... on a nifty pass from De Diana (Toronto Globe and Mail).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> something nifty, such as a clever remark or act. <BR> <I>Ex. When the cops began throwing his complaints into their "crank" file, he came up with a real nifty (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nig">
<B>nig, </B>transitive verb, <B>nigged,</B> <B>nigging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to dress (stone) with a sharp-pointed hammer instead of a chisel and mallet; nidge. </DL>
<A NAME="nigella">
<B>nigella, </B>noun. =fennelflower.</DL>
<A NAME="nigercongo">
<B>Niger-Congo, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the major language group in Africa, including the Bantu languages and many West African languages. </DL>
<A NAME="nigerian">
<B>Nigerian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Nigeria, a country in western Africa, or its people. <DD><I>noun </I> a person born or living in Nigeria. </DL>
<A NAME="nigerianize">
<B>Nigerianize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make Nigerian; put under the control of the Nigerian government or Nigerian business interests. noun <B>Nigerianization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="niggard">
<B>niggard, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a stingy person; miser. <BR> <I>Ex. Little niggard! ... refusing me a pecuniary request (Charlotte Bronte).</I> (SYN) skinflint. <DD><I>adj. </I> stingy; miserly. <BR> <I>Ex. lands which a niggard nature had apparently condemned to perpetual poverty (John L. Motley).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="niggardly">
<B>niggardly, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>stingy; miserly. <BR> <I>Ex. Let us not be niggardly; let the others have a share.</I> (SYN) illiberal, stinting. <DD><B> 2. </B>meanly small or scanty. <BR> <I>Ex. a niggardly gift.</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> stingily; grudingly. <BR> <I>Ex. [The story of his] life is niggardly doled to us in twelve short pages (John Nettleship).</I> noun <B>niggardliness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="niggerfish">
<B>niggerfish, </B>noun, pl. <B>-fishes</B> or (collectively) <B>-fish.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a red or yellowish grouper with bluish-black spots, of the Caribbean and the Florida coast. </DL>
<A NAME="niggle">
<B>niggle, </B>verb, <B>-gled,</B> <B>-gling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to do anything in a trifling way; work with too much care for petty details. <BR> <I>Ex. It was only to have been a sketch. And he has kept on niggling and niggling away at it (William Black).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>find fault; carp. <BR> <I>Ex. The nuclear consortia niggle at each other (Sunday Times).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to be trifling or petty with. <DD><B> 2. </B>to find fault with; nag. <DD><I>noun </I> a petty or trifling complaint. <BR> <I>Ex. One minor niggle and this is to do with music (Listener).</I> noun <B>niggler.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="niggling">
<B>niggling, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> trifling; mean; petty. <BR> <I>Ex. Neither did I like the niggling way in which they dealt with me (Robert Southey).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> trifling work or activity; work with too much care for petty details. <BR> <I>Ex. Leadership has to be created, ... free from niggling or pettiness (London Times).</I> adv. <B>nigglingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="niggly">
<B>niggly, </B>adjective, <B>-glier,</B> <B>-gliest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> petty; niggling. <BR> <I>Ex. The only thing which has upset them--which shows how niggly, mean, and small they are--is that this is a person who has been on the left wing of the Labour movement (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nigh">
<B>nigh, </B>adverb, adjective, <B>nigher,</B> <B>nighest,</B> or <B>next,</B> preposition, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adv. </I> <B>1. </B>near. <BR> <I>Ex. So nigh is grandeur to our dust (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>nearly; almost. <BR> <I>Ex. The wood is nigh as full of thieves as leaves (Tennyson).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>near; close. <DD><B> 2. </B>direct. <DD><B> 3. </B>(of one of a team of horses or a vehicle) left; near. <DD><I>prep. </I> close to; near. <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> (Archaic.) to draw near (to); approach. <BR><I>expr. <B>nigh upon</B> (or <B>on</B> or <B>about</B>), </I>all but; close to. <BR> <I>Ex. He was night upon twenty miles from home (Walter S. Landor).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="nighhand">
<B>nigh hand,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><B> 1. </B>near at hand. <BR> <I>Ex. The shock made ... woods and mountains all nigh hand resound (Edward Fairfax).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>almost or nearly. <BR> <I>Ex. to nigh hand kill one o' my horses (Samuel Lover).</I> </DL>
