something that comes from a certain country or region.. born or raised in a certain country or region; belonging to a certain country or region.. native to someplace originating in or ex
Trang 1n an abbreviation ofnominal.
nag ["nAg] 1 tv to continue to
bother someone; to demand, by
complaining all the time, that
someone do something 2 iv to
continue to be a bother and a pest
by making demands
nag at someone (about someone
or something) to pester someone
about someone or something
nail ["nel] 1 n a thin rod of metal,
pointed on one end 2 n one of
the hard, flat tips at the ends of
fingers and toes 3 tv to attach or
secure something with Q
→ (as) hard as nails
→ bite one’snails
→ fight someone or somethingtooth
and nail
→ go at it tooth and nail
→ hit the nail (right) on the head
nail in someone’s or something’s
coffin something that will harm
or destroy someone or something
nail someone down (on
some-thing) Go to pin someonedown (on
something).
nail something up 1 to put
some-thing up, as on a wall, by nailing
2 to nail something closed; to use
nails to secure something from
intruders
naked ["nek @d] adj nude; wearing
no clothes
→ with the naked eye
name ["nem] 1 n the word that
indicates someone, something, or
someplace 2 n [someone’s] fame
or reputation 3 n someone who
is famous or important 4 tv to
give or apply a name as in Q to
someone, something, or
some-place 5 tv to state or recite the Q
of someone or something 6 tv to
appoint someone; to choose some-one or something
→ drop names
→ drop someone’sname
→ drop the name of someone
→ first name
→ in name only
→ worthy of the name
nap ["nAp] 1 iv to sleep for a short
period of time, especially during
the day 2 n a short amount of
sleep, especially during the day
3 n the upright threads of a
car-pet or of a piece of material, such
as velvet (No plural.)
→ catch someonenapping
→ take a nap
nape ["nep] n the back [of the
neck]
→ by the nape of the neck
napkin ["nAp kIn] n a square of
fabric or paper used for protecting one’s clothes and keeping tidy at meals
narrate ["nEr et] 1 tv to tell a story 2 iv to tell about events that
are being shown in a film, a slide show, on television, or in some other performance setting
narrow ["nEr o] 1 adj not wide;
short from side to side in compari-son with the length of something from one end to the other (Adv:
narrowly Comp: narrower; sup: narrowest.) 2 adj limited; not
broad (Figurative on Q Adv:
narrowly Comp: narrower; sup: narrowest.) 3 tv to cause
some-thing to become Q 4 iv to become Q 5 iv to become W.
376
N
Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
Trang 2narrow something down (to
peo-ple or things) to reduce a list of
possibilities from many to a
selected few
nasal ["nez @l] 1 adj of or about
the nose (Adv: nasally.) 2 adj of
the quality of sound heard when
making the speech sounds [m],
[n], or [N] (Adv: nasally.) 3 n a
speech sound, such as [m] or [n],
made by opening the passage to
the nose at the back of the throat
nasty ["nAs ti] 1 adj mean; angry;
unpleasant (Adv: nastily Comp:
nastier; sup: nastiest.) 2 adj
dirty-minded; offensive to one’s morals
(Adv: nastily Comp: nastier; sup:
nastiest.) 3 adj very serious; bad;
dangerous (Adv: nastily Comp:
nastier; sup: nastiest.) 4 adj not
pleasant to see, hear, smell, taste,
or touch (Adv: nastily Comp:
nastier; sup: nastiest.)
nation ["ne S@n] 1 n a country; a
country that governs itself 2 n.
the people of a country; a group of
people who are ruled by the same
government
national ["nAS @ n@l] 1 adj of or
about a nation; belonging to a
nation; throughout a nation (Adv:
nationally.) 2 n a citizen of a
spe-cific nation or a particular group
of nations
nationality [nAS @ "nAl @ ti] n the
status that arises from having
citi-zenship in a particular country or
being born in a particular country
native ["ne tIv] 1 n something
that comes from a certain country
or region 2 n someone born in a
particular place 3 adj born or
raised in a certain country or
region; belonging to a certain
country or region (Adv: natively.)
Native American ["ne tIv @ "mEr @
k@n] 1 n a person belonging to one of the groups of people that lived in North America when the Europeans arrived; an American Indian (Often capitalized, but
sometimes seen as native Ameri-can.) 2 the adj use of Q.
native to someplace originating in
or existing naturally in a certain country or region
natural ["nAtS @ r@l] 1 adj made by
nature; existing in nature; not arti-ficial; not made by people; not affected by people (Adv:
naturally.) 2 adj existing since
birth; not learned (Adv:
naturally.) 3 n someone who is
thought of as perfect for a certain job; someone who does something very well, especially through inborn ability 4 n a musical note that is not a sharp or a flat; one of the white keys on the piano
nature ["ne tS#] 1 n everything in
the world except the material products of human work and thought: people, animals, plants, rocks, land, water, the weather, etc (No plural.) 2 n land that has not been affected by humans (No
plural.) 3 n [someone’s or
some-thing’s] character; the essential qualities of someone or some-thing; what someone or something really is
→ call of nature
→ second nature to someone
nausea ["nO zi @] n a feeling of
sickness; the feeling that one has to vomit (No plural.)
nausea
377
Trang 3nauseous ["nO S@s, "nO zi @s] 1 adj.
causing nausea; sickening; causing
someone to feel sick (Adv:
seously.) 2 adj experiencing
nau-sea; sickened (Adv: nauseously.)
nautical ["nOt I k@l] adj of or about
ships, shipping, or sailors (Adv:
nautically [ Ik li].)
nautical mile ["nOt I k@l "maIl] n a
measurement of distance at sea
equal to about 1.15 miles on land
naval ["ne v@l] adj of or about a
navy
navel ["ne v@l] n the depression in
the center of the belly where a
baby is attached to its mother until
shortly after birth
navigate ["nAv @ get] 1 tv to steer
a ship, airplane, or other vehicle in
some direction 2 tv to travel or
follow a route on the water, over
land, or in the air 3 iv to
deter-mine the proper direction or
route
navigation [nAv @ "ge S@n] n the
rules, skills, and science of
navi-gating (No plural.)
navy ["nev i] n the branch of the
military that deals with protecting
the sea or fighting at sea
near ["nIr] 1 prep at a place that is
not far away from someone or
something; at a time that is not far
away from something 2 adj close
in distance, time, relationship, or
effect (Comp: nearer; sup:
near-est.) 3 adv at or to a place that is
not far away; at or to a time that is
not too distant (Comp: nearer;
sup: nearest.) 4 tv to come closer
to someone or something; to
approach someone or something
5 iv to come closer in time or
space; to approach
→ draw near
→ draw near (to someone or something)
nearby ["nIr "baI] 1 adv near; close; not far away 2 adj near;
close; not far away
nearly ["nIr li] adv almost; not
quite
neat ["nit] adj clean; tidy; orderly.
(Adv: neatly Comp: neater; sup: neatest.)
necessary ["nEs @ sEr i] adj.
required; needed (Adv: necessarily
[nEs @ "sEr @ li].)
→ deem it (to be) necessary
→ deem that it is necessary
necessity [n@ "sEs @ ti] 1 n the
quality of being necessary or
needed (No plural.) 2 n
some-thing that is required; somesome-thing that is needed or necessary
neck ["nEk] 1 n the narrow part of
the body that connects the head to the rest of the body; the outside of the throat 2 n the narrowest part
of something; something narrow that connects two things (Figura-tive on Q.)
→ break one’sneck (to do something)
→ breathe down someone’sneck
→ amillstone about one’sneck
→ by the nape of the neck
→ risk one’sneck (to do something)
→ stick one’sneck out
→ up to one’sneck (in something)
→ ayoke around someone’sneck
neck and neck exactly even,
espe-cially in a race or a contest
necklace ["nEk l@s] n a decorative
band, chain, or similar object that
is worn around the neck nauseous
378
Trang 4necktie ["nEk taI] n a specially
made strip of decorative cloth,
typically worn under the collar of
a man’s shirt (Also a tie
Origi-nally served the purpose of
keep-ing the collar closed.)
need ["nid] 1 n something that is
required or necessary; something
that must be done or had; a
requirement 2 tv to require
something; to have to have
some-thing; to want something for a
cer-tain reason
→ in need (of something)
need something yesterday to
require something in a very big
hurry (Informal.)
need to do something to have to do
something
needle ["nid @l] 1 n a thin,
pointed spike of metal having a
narrow slit that thread fits
through, used for sewing 2 n a
thin, hollow, pointed spike of
metal used for injecting and
removing body fluids 3 n a thin,
pointed spike used to show a
posi-tion on a scale or meter 4 n the
part of a record player that “rides”
on a (vinyl) record as it is played
5 n a long, thin, sharply pointed
leaf of a pine tree 6 n a long,
thin, sharp thorn as found on a
cactus 7 tv to annoy someone.
→ like looking for a needle in a
haystack
→ on pins and needles
→ pins and needles
needlework ["nid @l w#k] n crafts
that are done with a needle, such
as sewing (No plural.)
needy ["nid i] adj [of someone]
very poor; [of someone] needing
the basic things in life (Adv: need-ily Comp: needier; sup: neediest.)
theneedy n people who are poor.
(No plural Treated as plural, but not countable.)
negative ["nEg @ tIv] 1 adj
mean-ing “not” or “no”; expressmean-ing “not”
or “no”; showing refusal or denial
(Adv: negatively.) 2 adj not
posi-tive; the opposite of posiposi-tive; lack-ing somethlack-ing that makes a thlack-ing
positive; not good (Adv: nega-tively.) 3 adj less than zero;
minus; below the number zero
4 adj cynical; not having hope;
having a sad or gloomy outlook
(Adv: negatively.) 5 adj showing
that a certain disease or condition
is not present (Adv: negatively.)
6 adj [of some part of an
electri-cal circuit] lower in electrielectri-cal charge than other points in the same circuit, allowing electrical energy to flow from other parts of
the circuit (Adv: negatively.) 7 n.
a word or statement that means
“not” or “no.” 8 n a piece of film (for photography) 9 n a quality
or factor that is W
neglect [nI "glEkt] 1 tv not to take
care of someone or something; not
to pay attention to someone or something; to ignore someone or something 2 n the lack of taking care of someone or something; a lack of paying attention to some-one or something (No plural.)
neglect to do something to forget
to do something; to fail to do something
negotiate [n@ "go Si et] 1 iv to
dis-cuss the matters that need to be settled before reaching an
agree-negotiate
379
Trang 5ment 2 tv to make an agreement
through discussions as in Q 3 tv.
to move around or through a
diffi-cult route successfully
neighbor ["ne b#] 1 n someone
who lives very close by 2 n
some-one who is sitting or standing next
to oneself
→ next-door neighbor
neighborhood ["ne b# hUd] 1 n a
specific area within a larger city or
town where people live 2 n the
people who live in a certain area of
the city
→ (somewhere) in the neighborhood
of something
→ in the neighborhood of something
neither ["ni D#] 1 adj not either;
not one person or thing nor the
other; not either of two people or
things 2 pron not either;not
either one (of two people or
things) (Treated as singular.)
3 conj not (Used before a
sequence of two words or phrases
connected by nor.)
neither does someone [someone
does] not either
neither fish nor fowl not any
rec-ognizable thing
neither hide nor hair no sign or
indication (of someone or
some-thing.)
nephew ["nEf ju] n the son of one’s
brother or sister; the son of one’s
spouse’s brother or sister
nerve ["n#v] 1 n a fiber in the
body that carries messages to and
from the brain 2 n courage;
bravery (No plural.)
→ get on someone’snerves
→ get up enough nerve (to do
something)
→ grate on someone(’snerves)
→ of all the nerve
ness [n@s] suffix a form that can be
added freely to adjectives to create
a noun with a parallel meaning
nest ["nEst] 1 n a structure made
of twigs that is built by a bird as a shelter for its eggs and that is typi-cally rounded and bowl-shaped
2 n a place where certain animals live with their young 3 iv to
build or live in Q or W
→ feather one’s(own) nest
→ foul one’sown nest
→ stir up a hornet’s nest
nestle down (in something) to
set-tle down in something; to snuggle into something, such as a bed
nestle (up) against someone or something and nestle up (to someone or something) to lie close
to someone or something; to cud-dle up to someone or something
nestle up (to someone or some-thing) Go to nestle (up) against
someone or something
net ["nEt] 1 n a piece of mesh
fab-ric—made of string, wire, or cord and sometimes attached to some-thing—that is typically used to catch, trap, or block something
2 n a system for fast electronic
communication connecting peo-ple, businesses, and institutions (Short for Internet Usually
capi-talized.) 3 adj remaining after all
factors have been considered, deducted, or added, as with weight, income, cost, effect, results, outcome, etc
network ["nEt w#k] 1 n a pattern
of crossing lines, paths, or similar structures; a system of lines, paths, neighbor
380
Trang 6or similar structures that are
con-nected together 2 n a group of
computers connected to each
other and the systems that connect
them 3 n a group of radio or
television stations that broadcast
the same programs 4 n a
collec-tion of friends or business
con-tacts 5 iv to make social and
business contacts; to talk with
people in one’s area of business or
interest
neurotic [nU "rat Ik] 1 adj of or
about a mild psychological
prob-lem or illness, such as having
obsessions or irrational fears;
affected by such a problem or
ill-ness (Adv: neurotically [ Ik li].)
2 n someone who has irrational
fears or obsessions or some other
mild psychological problem or
ill-ness
neuter ["nut #] 1 adj neither
mas-culine nor feminine; not having a
sex E 2 adj [of a class of words]
not masculine or feminine
neutral ["nu tr@l] 1 adj not joining
with either side in a war, conflict,
or argument (Adv: neutrally.)
2 adj at neither extreme; in the
middle of a scale (Adv: neutrally.)
→ in neutral
never ["nEv #] adv not ever; at no
time
→ go and never darken one’sdoor
again
new ["nu] 1 adj recently done,
made, bought, acquired,
discov-ered, or built; not existing or
known of before (Adv: newly.
Comp: newer; sup: newest See also
news.) 2 adj the more recent of
two or more things (Comp:
newer; sup: newest.) 3 adj not
familiar; strange; unknown (Adv:
newly Comp: newer; sup: newest.)
4 adj different; changed (Adv:
newly Comp: newer; sup: newest.)
5 adj beginning again; starting
over (Adv: newly Comp: newer; sup: newest.)
→ break new ground
→ feel like a new person
→ ring in the new year
→ turn over a new leaf
new blood Go to fresh blood.
a new lease on life a renewed and
revitalized outlook on life; a new start in living
a new one on someone something
that one has not heard before and that one is not ready to believe
(Informal The someone is often me.)
newcomer ["nu k@m #] n someone
who has recently arrived at a cer-tain place
newly ["nu li] adv recently; as of
late; just
newlywed ["nu li wEd] n someone
who has recently married
news ["nuz] 1 n information,
par-ticularly current information about a person or a recent event (Treated as singular No other sin-gular form in this sense.) 2 n a television or radio program where information about recent events is broadcast (Treated as singular No other singular form in this sense.)
→ break the news (to someone)
newspaper ["nuz pe p#] n a daily
or weekly publication consisting of news, articles, and advertisements printed on large sheets of paper
newspaper
381
Trang 7newt ["nut] n a small amphibian
with four legs and a tail
next ["nEkst] 1 adj following;
nearest in sequence after; soonest
after 2 adj located in the nearest
position to something; [of
some-one or something] beside somesome-one
or something [else] 3 adv at the
soonest time after now; in the
nearest place or position after this
one
→ someone’snext of kin
next door ["nEks "dor] in or at the
house or apartment next to one’s
own (Hyphenated before a
nomi-nal.)
next to nothing hardly anything;
almost nothing
next to someone or something very
near to someone or something;
beside someone or something
next-door neighbor ["nEks dor "ne
b#] n the person living in the
house or apartment closest to one’s
own
nice ["naIs] 1 adj pleasant;
agree-able; enjoyable (Adv: nicely.
Comp: nicer; sup: nicest.) 2 adj.
kind; friendly (Adv: nicely Comp:
nicer; sup: nicest.) 3 adj good;
clever; well done (Informal Adv:
nicely Comp: nicer; sup: nicest.)
nice and some quality enough of
some quality; adequately;
suffi-ciently
nick ["nIk] 1 n a small dent or chip
on the surface of something 2 tv.
to put or cause a small dent or
chip on the surface of something
→ in the nick of time
nickel ["nIk @l] 1 n a metallic
ele-ment that does not rust easily (No
plural.) 2 n a U.S coin worth five
cents
nickname ["nIk nem] 1 n a
sec-ondary, familiar, or intimate name
for someone or something 2 tv.
to give someone, something, or someplace a nicknameas in Q
niece ["nis] n the daughter of one’s
brother or sister; the daughter of one’s spouse’s brother or sister
night ["naIt] 1 n the time between
sunset and sunrise; the darkness between sunset and sunrise; night-time (No plural.) 2 n the period
of time between sunset and
mid-night 3 n a specific Q or W
when something happens or is
planned 4 n a unit of measure
based on the number ofnightsQ but also including the period of time between nightsQ (E.g., stay
at a hotel for seven nights.) 5 adj.
happening during Q or W
→ all night long
→ (as) different as night and day
→ by night
→ themorning after (the night before)
→ ships that pass in the night
night owl ["naIt aUl] n someone
who stays up late at night; some-one who works at night
nightclub ["naIt kl@b] n a bar or
club open at night where there is entertainment, dancing, perform-ances, etc
nightgown ["naIt gaUn] n an item
of clothing like a dress, usually for women, that is worn in bed
nightlife ["naIt laIf] n
entertain-ment and social activities that take place during the night (No plu-ral.)
newt
382
Trang 8nightmare ["naIt mEr] 1 n a
frightening dream 2 n a real
event that is frightening or awful
(Figurative on Q.)
nights adv every night; during
every night; only at night
nighttime ["naIt taIm] 1 n the
time during the night; the time
from after sunset until sunrise
(No plural.) 2 the adj use of Q
nine ["naIn] 9 Go to four
→ on cloud nine
nine days’ wonder something that
is of interest to people only for a
short time
nineteen ["naIn "tin] 19 Go to
four
nineteenth ["naIn "tinT] 19th Go
to fourth
ninetieth ["naIn ti @T] 90th Go to
fourth
ninety ["naIn ti] 90 Go to forty
ninth ["naInT] 9th Go to fourth
nip ["nIp] 1 tv to pinch or bite
someone or something 2 tv to
remove something by pinching or
biting
nip and tuck [of two people or
things moving] almost even;
almost tied
nip something in the bud to put an
end to something at an early stage
nitwit ["nIt wIt] n an idiot;
some-one who is foolish or stupid
nix ["nIks] tv to put a stop to
some-thing; to end somesome-thing; to reject
something
no ["no] 1 adj not any; not a; not
one; not any amount of 2 adv a
word that is used as an answer to
show that one does not agree
3 adv a word that is used to stress
a negative statement 4 n a
nega-tive answer (Plural ends in -s or -es.)
no (ifs, ands, or) buts about it
absolutely no discussion, dissen-sion, or doubt about something
no joke a serious matter
(Infor-mal.)
no laughing matter a serious
matter
no point in doing something no
purpose in doing something
no skin off someone’s nose Go to
no skin off someone’steeth.
no skin off someone’s teeth and
no skin off someone’s nose no
difficulty for someone; no concern
of someone
no spring chicken no longer
young
nobility [no "bIl @ ti] n dignity; the
quality of being noble (No plu-ral.)
noble ["nob @l] 1 adj refined;
moral; showing dignity (Adv:
nobly Comp: nobler; sup: noblest.)
2 the adj use of Q (Adv: nobly Comp: nobler; sup: noblest.) 3 adj.
[of a chemical element] not able to mix with other elements; [of a chemical element] not able to react with other elements 4 n a member of the nobility
nobody ["no bad i] 1 pron no
per-son; no one; not anybody (No
plural.) 2 n someone who is not
important; someone who has no power
nobody’s fool a sensible and wise
person who is not easily deceived
nobody’s fool
383
Trang 9nod ["nad] 1 n a quick downward
or up-and-down movement of the
head, usually to show agreement
2 tv to express something by
moving one’s head as in R 3 tv.
to move one’s head in agreement
as in R 4 iv to move one’s head
down, or up and down, quickly,
especially to show agreement or
approval, or as a greeting 5 iv to
let one’s head jerk down as one
begins to fall asleep 6 iv [for
one’s head] to jerk down as one
begins to fall asleep while sitting
or standing
→ get the nod
→ theland of Nod
nod off to fall asleep (Informal.)
noise ["noIz] n annoying or
unwanted sound (Plural only for
types and instances.)
noisy ["noIz i] adj [of a sound or of
someone or something making
sounds] loud; [of someone or
something] making much noise
(Adv: noisily Comp: noisier; sup:
noisiest.)
nominal ["nam @ n@l] 1 n a noun
or expression that can serve as the
subject of a sentence, the direct or
indirect object of a verb, or the
object of a preposition
(Abbrevi-ated n here.) 2 adj functioning as
Q (Adv: nominally.) 3 adj in
name only; in theory, but not in
reality (Adv: nominally.) 4 adj.
[of a fee or charge] very small,
especially as compared with what
something is worth (Adv:
nomi-nally.)
none ["n^n] 1 pron not one; not
any; no person; no thing 2 pron.
not one part; no part
none of someone’s business not
of someone’s concern
none other than someone the very
person
none the wiser not knowing any
more
none the worse for wear no
worse because of use or effort
none too not very; not at all nonflammable [nan "flAm @ b@l]
adj difficult to burn; impossible
to burn; not flammable (Adv:
nonf lammably.)
nonprofit [nan "praf It] adj not
making a profit; not organized or established for the purpose of making money
nonsense ["nan sEns] n something
that does not make sense; some-thing that is foolish (No plural.)
→ stuff and nonsense
nonstop ["nan "stap] 1 adj
with-out stopping or pausing;
continu-ous 2 adv without stopping;
continuously
noodle ["nud l] n a strip or piece of
pasta
noon ["nun] n the time in the
mid-dle of the day between morning and afternoon; 12:00 in the day-time; midday (No plural.)
noonday ["nun de] adj happening
at noon; happening in the middle
of the day (Prenominal only.)
noontime ["nun taIm] 1 n noon;
the middle of the day (No plural.)
2 adj happening at noon;
hap-pening in the middle of the day (Prenominal only.)
nod
384
Trang 10noose ["nus] n a loop tied at the
end of a rope, used to trap or hang
someone or something
nor ["nor] conj a word used to
con-nect a series of persons or things
that are not options or
possibili-ties
nor does someone someone does
not either; neither does someone
thenorm [ "norm] n the normal
or expected amount, quality, or
way (No plural.)
normal ["nor m@l] 1 adj regular;
typical; usual; expected (Adv:
normally.) 2 adj sane; not sick in
the mind (Adv: normally.)
north ["norT] 1 n the direction to
the left of someone or something
facing the rising sun (No plural.)
2 n the northern part of a region,
country, or planet (No plural
form Capitalized when referring
to a specific region of the United
States.) 3 adj at Q; in W; on the
side toward Q; facing toward Q
4 adj from Q (Used especially
to describe wind.) 5 adv toward
Q; into the northern part of
something
north pole ["norT "pol] 1 n the
point in the Arctic that is as far
north as it is possible to go 2 n.
the actual location of Q
(Capital-ized.)
northeast [norT "ist] 1 n a
direc-tion halfway between north and
east (No plural.) 2 n an area in
the northeastern part of a city,
region, or country (No plural
Capitalized when referring to a
specific region of the United
States.) 3 adj in W; toward Q;
facing Q 4 adj [of wind] blow-ing from Q 5 adv toward Q northeastern [norT "ist #n] adj in
the northeast; toward the north-east; facing northeast
northern ["nor D#n] 1 adj in the
north; toward the north; facing
the north 2 adj [of wind]
blow-ing from the north
northwest [norT "wEst] 1 n a
direction halfway between north
and west (No plural.) 2 n an area
in the northwestern part of a country (No plural Capitalized when referring to a region of the United States.) 3 adj in W;
toward Q; facing Q 4 adj [of wind] blowing from Q 5 adv.
toward Q
northwestern [norT "wEs t#n] adj.
in the northwest; toward the northwest; facing northwest
nose ["noz] 1 n the structure
between the mouth and the eyes in humans, being the organ used for smelling and breathing, and a sim-ilar structure in other animals
2 n the sense of smell; Q used for smelling something 3 n the
front end of an airplane, a rocket,
a ship, or some other similar thing (Figurative on Q.)
→ (as) plain as the nose on one’s
face
→ blow one’snose
→ can’t see beyond the end of one’s
nose
→ count noses
→ cut off one’snose to spite one’s
face
→ have a nose for something
→ have one’snose in a book
→ keep one’snose to the grindstone
→ no skin off someone’snose
nose
385