[
US
/ˈnaɪ/
]
[ UK /nˈaɪ/ ]
[ UK /nˈaɪ/ ]
ADVERB
-
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
the job is (just) about done
I was near exhausted by the run
virtually all the parties signed the contract
most everyone agrees
we're almost finished
the car all but ran her down
talked for nigh onto 2 hours
the recording is well-nigh perfect
he nearly fainted
the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded -
near in time or place or relationship
The end draws nigh
the bullet didn't come close
getting near to the true explanation
her mother is always near
don't get too close to the fire
as the wedding day drew near
don't shoot until they come near
stood near the door
ADJECTIVE
-
being on the left side
the near or nigh horse is the one on the left
the animal's left side is its near or nigh side -
not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances
she was close to tears
she was near tears
his nearest approach to success
near neighbors
in the near future
a very near thing
had a close call
a near hit by the bomb
they are near equals
How To Use nigh In A Sentence
- She was carrying her overnight case and a basket of dried flowers-statice, strawflower, and immortelle in the pastel colors referred to in seed catalogues as "art shades": fawn, apricot, mauve, and pale yellow. Incubus
- This was just a few years after Lord Byron woke to find Child Harold's Pilgrimage in the bookshops and himself famous, as it were, overnight.
- My poor Lirriper was a handsome figure of a man, with a beaming eye and a voice as mellow as a musical instrument made of honey and steel, but he had ever been a free liver being in the commercial travelling line and travelling what he called a limekiln road — “a dry road, Emma my dear,” my poor Lirriper says to me, “where I have to lay the dust with one drink or another all day long and half the night, and it wears me Emma” — and this led to his running through a good deal and might have run through the turnpike too when that dreadful horse that never would stand still for a single instant set off, but for its being night and the gate shut and consequently took his wheel, my poor Lirriper and the gig smashed to atoms and never spoke afterwards. Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings
- Last night, a steady stream of people arrived at the evacuation centre in Brisbane's showground, only a few minutes' drive from the swollen river. Brisbane residents flee homes as floodwaters rise
- The potatoes will absorb any excess liquid overnight. Times, Sunday Times
- Simply smooth a little on your face at night, lie back and say goodbye to dull and lifeless skin. The Sun
- Should we no do a little what you call shopping for the babies, and haf a farewell feast tonight if I go for my last call at your so pleasant home?" he asked, stopping before a window full of fruit and flowers. Little Women
- Not that I'm denigrating the effort - I'm good for a few quid once I've got a few beers in me later tonight - but the enforced jollity does occasionally grate.
- And those involved are pretty small: a few degrees between cooler land and warmer ocean at night, a few tens of degrees between tropics and poles. Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet
- Said hi also to a few of the guys from Aereogramme after they'd finished up, but wasn't actually sure of who was there from Chemikal Underground or what they look like, so I was basically floating around and looking glaikit until Mags pointed out the Newsnight crew, and the nice interviewer man figured out who I was. Archive 2007-02-01
