Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A cow or other domestic bovine animal.
- adjective Orderly and clean; tidy.
- adjective Habitually tidy or well-organized.
- adjective Marked by ingenuity and skill; adroit.
- adjective Not diluted or mixed with other substances.
- adjective Left after all deductions; net.
- adjective Slang Wonderful; terrific.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Neatly.
- noun Cattle of the bovine genus, as bulls, oxen, and cows: used collectively.
- noun A single bovine animal.
- Being or relating to animals of the ox kind: as, neat cattle.
- Clear; pure; unmixed; undiluted; unadulterated: as, a glass of brandy neat.
- Clear of any extraneous matter; clear of the cask, case, wrapper, etc.; with all deductions made: as, neat weight.
- Free from what is undesirable, offensive, unbecoming, or in bad taste; pleasing; nice.
- Characterized by nicety of appearance, construction, arrangement, etc.; nice; hence, orderly; trim; tidy; often, specifically, clean; as, a neat box; the apartment was always very neat; neat in one's dress.
- Well-shaped or well-proportioned; cleancut: as, a neat foot and ankle.
- Complete in character, skill, etc.; exact; finished; adroit; clever; skilful: applied to persons or things.
- Spruce; finical; over-nice.
- A commendatory word, used somewhat vaguely.
- Synonyms Clean, cleanly, unsoiled.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Cattle of the genus Bos, as distinguished from horses, sheep, and goats; an animal of the genus Bos
- noun an oil obtained by boiling the feet of neat cattle. It is used to render leather soft and pliable.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the genus Bos, or to cattle of that genus.
- adjective Free from that which soils, defiles, or disorders; clean; cleanly; tidy.
- adjective Free from what is unbecoming, inappropriate, or tawdry; simple and becoming; pleasing with simplicity; tasteful; chaste
- adjective (Chem.) Free from admixture or adulteration; good of its kind.
- adjective Excellent in character, skill, or performance, etc.; nice; finished; adroit
- adjective With all deductions or allowances made; net. [In this sense usually written
net . SeeNet , a., 3.] - adjective (Civil Engin.) a line to which work is to be built or formed.
- adjective work built or formed to neat lines.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic A
bull orcow . - noun archaic Cattle collectively.
- adjective
Clean ,tidy ; free fromdirt or impurities. - adjective Free from
contaminants ;unadulterated , undiluted. Particularly of liquor and cocktails; see usage below. - adjective chemistry Conditions with a liquid reagent or gas performed with no standard solvent or cosolvent
- adjective archaic With all
deductions orallowances made;net . - adjective Having a simple elegance or style; clean, trim, tidy,
tasteful . - adjective Well-executed or delivered; clever, skilful, precise.
- adjective colloquial Good, excellent, desirable.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective free from what is tawdry or unbecoming
- adjective without water
- adjective clean or organized
- adjective showing care in execution
- adjective free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed
- adjective very good
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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I. ii.123 (266,6) [We must be neat] Leontes, seeing his son's nose smutched, cries, _We must be neat_, then recollecting that _neat_ is the term for _horned_ cattle, he says, _not neat, but cleanly_.
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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He did it as a riff off the term "hi fi", which was what you called your neat-o, keen-o stereo system in the 1950s?
It's Not Just St. Patrick's Day-- marshall_payne 2009
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Damn, was I imagining things, or did Gilberto really use the word neat?
Dark Dude Oscar Hijuelos 2008
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Damn, was I imagining things, or did Gilberto really use the word neat?
Dark Dude Oscar Hijuelos 2008
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Damn, was I imagining things, or did Gilberto really use the word neat?
Dark Dude Oscar Hijuelos 2008
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I had to pay five dollars for hittin 'the chap (they said it was salt and buttery), an' that's what I call a neat, genteel luxury.
The Story of a Bad Boy Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1871
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What's kind of neat is that Torquere Press always has one of their established authors review the book, so I have my first review already, technically.
ceciliatan: Royal Treatment is out! ceciliatan 2010
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It's pretty neat from the old cars, to the old suits, the write-ups, the videos.
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Newer: « Matrix Trilogy comes in neat toy Nebuchadnezzar
Zombie Defense weapons for LEGO minifigs | My[confined]Space 2009
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Newer: « Matrix Trilogy comes in neat toy Nebuchadnezzar
Zombie Defense weapons for LEGO minifigs | My[confined]Space 2009
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Levine calls these non-exercise movements all day “non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” or NEAT: NEAT is the energy expenditure of all physical activities other than volitional sporting-like exercise.
New series: Sitting, standing, and walking <a href=‘/aboutme/’>Tom Johnson</a> 2023
uselessness commented on the word neat
Gee willikers, this word is swell!
May 21, 2007
valse commented on the word neat
Heh...I wonder if someone's made a list for funnily innocuous words from the 50's like this one?
May 22, 2007
oroboros commented on the word neat
Mighty keen, Eugene!
May 22, 2007
duckbill commented on the word neat
"dried neat's tongues."
April 23, 2011
fbharjo commented on the word neat
A commendatory word, used somewhat vaguely. - Century Dictionary
August 22, 2012
rolig commented on the word neat
"I am indeed, sir, a surgeon
to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I
recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon
neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork."
– Second Commoner (a cobbler), in Shakespeare, Julius Ceasar, Act I, scene i.
June 6, 2015