▪ I. neat, n.
(niːt)
Forms: 1 néat (næt, 2 niatt), 1, 3–4 net, 3–6 neet, 3–7 nete (4 nett, 5 nette, 6 neette, neyte), 6–7 neate, 6– neat.
[OE. néat neut. = OFris. nât, naet, OS. *nôt (MDu. noot), OHG. nôz (obs. or dial. Germ. nosz, nos), ON. naut nowt (Norw. naut, Sw. nöt, Da. nöd):—OTeut. *nauto{supm}, f. naut- ablaut-variant of neut- to enjoy or possess, OE. néotan: cf. nait n. and v.1]
1. sing. An animal of the ox-kind; an ox or bullock, a cow or heifer. Now rare.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxii. 23 Swe swe neat ᵹeworden ic eam. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past C. xiv. 80 Ða breost ðæs neates. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 940 A net, and a got, and a sep. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 261 Iohan most gentil of alle, The prys nete of Piers plow. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 252 His hevyd..was als grete Als of a rowncy or a nete. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 354/2 Neet, beest, bos. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 77 [He] may well kill a neate and sheepe of his owne. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 203 In the concave of a horse or neat's footing. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 329 Neat, a Heifer, or any of the kind of Beeves. 1895 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 318 A savage Bull.., he was a gallant-looking neat. |
2. a. † (pl. or) collect. Cattle. neat leather (= neat's leather).
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xxxv. 7 Men & neat hale ðu does dryhten. c 1000 Boeth. Metr. xx. 249 Se þas foldan ᵹesceop, & hi ᵹefylde þa..neata cynnum. c 1131 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1131 Micel orfcwalm..on næt & on swin. c 1205 Lay. 369 Children & hinen Þa ure nete sculen ᵹemen. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3712 Ðe lond is god, ful of erf and of netes brod. a 1300 Cursor M. 3019 His fadir slow bath schep and net. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 172 Prestis also..bien schep and neet. 1461 Paston Lett. II. 55 He..toke there xxxvj. heede of nete. 1535 Goodly Primer, Matins Ps. viii, As flocks of sheep, all herds of neat. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 110 Be suer thy neat haue water and meat. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 125 The Steere, the Heyefer, and the Calfe, Are all call'd Neat. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 329 Their Neat, though small are sleek and well-liking. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (J.), Set it in rich mould, with neats dung and lime. 1802 W. Forsyth Fruit Trees xxiii. (1824) 331 Rotten neats-dung is the best dressing that you can give it. 1867 Morris Jason i. 241 The herdsmen drave Full oft to Cheiron woolly sheep, and neat. |
| Comb. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 354/2 Neet Dryvare, armentarius. 1776 in New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1889) IX. 263 Mens Neat Leather Shoes of the best common sort. 1894 Atkinson Old Whitby 21 The unromantic homeliness of the neat-stalls. |
b. Used appositively, in neat beast, neat-beef, neat cattle, neat stock.
| 1624 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1914) L. 235 All my Cattell nowe upon the farme..as neat bests, horse bests, and swine. 1727 Rec. Smithtown, N.Y. (1898) 82 It is agreed on that the pounder shall have for pounding a horse four pence, for a net best four pence. |
| 1755 in S. M. Hamilton Lett. to Washington (1898) I. 135 Not under twelve shillings and sixpence per Hundred Neet Beef. |
| 1619 Jrnl. House of Burgesses, Gen. Assembly Virginia (1915) 13 No man without leave from the Governour shall kill any Neat cattle whatsoever. 1648 Archives of Maryland (1887) IV. 390 Certaine neate-cattle to the number of 27. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative 60 Two hundred sheep and fifty head of Neat Cattle. 1753 Scots Mag. Nov. 540/2 Drawn by oxen or neat cattle. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 378 Sheep, horses, and even every kind of neat cattle. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 339 Neat cattle were sent to France in large numbers. |
| 1850 Rep. Comm. Patents: Agric. 1849 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 94 It is estimated that there are in this country..fifteen thousand two hundred and eighty five neat stock. 1869 Rep. Comm. Agric. 1868 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 427 The present winter (1868) he feeds forty-three head of neat stock, equivalent to thirty-four mature animals. 1882 Rep. Maine Board Agric. XVI. 265 The way is to fence off such a piece, and allow no neat stock or horses to run in it at any time. |
▪ II. neat, a. and adv.
(niːt)
Also 6–7 neate, nete.
[ad. AF. neit, net, F. net = Prov. net, ned, Sp. neto, It. netto, for *net'do:—L. nitid-um (cf. Pg. nedeo), f. nitēre to shine.
In 17th c. examples the precise sense intended is not always clear.]
A. adj. I. † 1. a. Clean; free from dirt or impurities. Also const. from. Obs.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. (1877) 62 His mainor place being in euery corner verie neat and clene. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 244/2 [They] must shewe them selues neate and cleane from the faultes which S. Paule condemneth here. 1626 Bacon Sylva §46 Mince the two Capons... Put them into a large neat Boulter. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 184 Linnen cloth, that will not burne being cast into the fire, but serveth to make it neate and white. |
† b. Denoting freedom from disease. Obs. rare—1.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 226 Euery ship had a neat Patent to shew that those places from whence they came were free from the infection. |
† 2. Clear, bright. Obs.
| 1591 Spenser Virg. Gnat 119 Fresh springing wells, as christall neate. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iii. xi. 154 A Membrane..wherewith it is covered, and shines with a neat color. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 133 This stone is very hard, looks like a kind of Porphyrie, and is very neat when polished. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 764/1 The sand..was peculiarly adapted to the making of glass, as being neat and glittering. |
3. a. Of liquors: Pure, unadulterated; spec. not mixed with water, undiluted.
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 191 The Wine that runneth on the lees, is not therefore to be accompted neate bicause it was drawne of the same peece. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 80 Thou didst drink wine both pure and neate. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 124 She saw me mix water with my wine,..she and her women drank it neat. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 264 ¶5 The Hogsheads of Neat Port came safe. 1762 Lloyd Poet Wks. (1774) II. 6 Will you pour out to English swine, Neat as imported, old Greek wine? 1815 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 68 Accustomed to drink neat spirits. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 359/2, I was obliged to drink rum; it wouldn't ha done to ha drunk the water neat. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly i, I should take a small glass of brandy neat. |
| fig. 1860 O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. vi, A remark..is not..to be taken ‘neat’, but watered with the ideas of common sense. 1887 Brit. Weekly 5 Aug. 219/2 They could take the truth neat, so to speak. |
b. So of other substances. rare.
| 1651 R. Child in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 53 If one take pure neat Honey, and ingeniously clarifie and scum and boyl it. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 385 Grains of gold, absolute gold, pure and neat. 1885 W. L. Carpenter Soap & Candles 174 The soap..may..be put in the ‘neat’ state direct into the cooling-boxes. |
† c. Of a language: Pure. Obs. rare—1.
| 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 378 They speak Persian, more or less neat, as the people are more or less at a distance from Shiras. |
d. neat cement: a mortar made from cement and water only, without the addition of sand.
| 1932 T. Corkhill Conc. Building Encycl. 142 Neat, a term applied to cement mortar without sand. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpture xi. 328 Neat cement is a mixture of cement and water. It is not recommended for sculptural use save as a retouching medium. 1964 H. F. W. Taylor Chem. of Cements I. 2 Mechanical or physical determinations, such as strength tests, are usually made with an aggregate present, as determinations of this type on neat cement pastes can give misleading results. |
4. a. Free from any reductions; clear, net.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 200, 600,000 ducates of golde neat and free of all charges. 1670 Pettus Fodinæ Reg. 19 Paying the King the eighth part neat. 1685 Sir W. Petty Will p. vii, I have of neat profits out of the lands..1100l. per ann. 1714 Steele Lover No. 24 (1727) 142 The Brother's Estate..when cleared would not be a neat Thousand a Year. 1747 W. Horsley Fool (1748) II. 150 The Commander has..Two-Eighths of the neat Produce of every Prize. a 1790 Adam Smith W.N. i. ix. (1869) I. 101 It is this surplus only which is neat or clear profit. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. iv. 457 He offered to give a neat sum, to cover all expenses. 1887 Daily News 28 June 2/5 Sheep trade improved and prices higher, especially for prime neat weights. |
† b. Unbroken, complete. Obs. rare—1.
| 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5360/9 All the..French Wines are neat and entire parcels. |
c. Exact, precise. Now dial.
| 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 58 If the Endorser cannot meet with a Remitter, for the Neat and precise Sum. 1755 N. Magens Insurances I. 69 This is the sum whereon the Repartition ought to be made; all the particular Goods bearing their neat Proportion. 1875 Parish Sussex Dict., 'Tis ten rod neat, no more and no less. 1894 ‘Ian Maclaren’ Brier Bush 201 It cam tae the hundred neat. |
II. † 5. a. Of persons: Inclined to refinement or elegance; finely or elegantly dressed; trim or smart in apparel. Obs.
| 1546 Heywood Proverbs (1874) 140 Like one of fond fancie so fine and so neate, That would have better bread than is made of wheate. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 118 Be not curious to curle thy haire, nor carefull to be neat in thine apparel. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. i. i, Still to be neat, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast. 1655 Vaughan Silex Scint. ii. Providence iii. (1858) 167, I, like flowers, shall still go neat As if I knew no month but May. |
† b. Of dress: Elegant, trim. Obs. rare.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 191 Deckt in neat attire. 1695 Kennett Paroch. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Garba, A neat or handsome garb. |
† 6. Of women: Trim, smart. Obs.
Possibly with more or less implication of sense 5.
| 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence xliv, Matched with a mayden nete. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 354 This your neat Bride is one of the Empusæ called Lamiæ. 1656 R. Fletcher tr. Martial v. ii, Ye Matrons, Boyes, and Virgins neat, To you my Page I dedicate. |
7. Characterized by elegance of form or arrangement, with freedom from all unnecessary additions or embellishments; of agreeable but simple appearance; nicely made or proportioned.
In early use the handsomeness of the thing appears to be the more prominent idea.
a. of towns, buildings, etc.
| 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. cxxii. 3 O thou Jerusalem full faire;..much like a Citie neat. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. i, Here's a most neate fine street, is't not? 1630 M. Godwyn tr. Bp. Hereford's Ann. Eng. (1675) 65 Hampton Court, the neatest pile of all the King's houses. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 112 Many neat houses and pleasant seats there be in this county. 1717 Berkeley Jrnl. Tour Italy Wks. 1871 IV. 522 The gardens are neat, spacious, and kept in good order. 1773 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 25 Aug., We lay at Montrose, a neat place. 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. 302/1 A neat and commodious mansion-house. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. xv, It was made neater by there really being two halls in the house. |
b. in general use.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 393 When I thinke vpon thy neate proportion. 1601 R. Chester Love's Mart., Compl. (1876) 6 Her Feete..Are neat and litle to delight the eye. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. ii. 53 You must have..Sets of Steel Letters.., with a neat Hammer to use with them. 1710 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 43 Mr. Aubrey..writ a neat Hand. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 239 In a focus round and neat, Let all your rays of information meet. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 244 An agate style, ground and polished to a smooth neat point. 1858 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 393 What our livery-stable keepers call a neat fly. 1888 M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. ii, The furniture was neat. |
| absol. 1871 Lowell Pope Prose Wks. 1890 IV. 48 It seems to me that Pope had a sense of the neat rather than of the beautiful. |
c. spec. of wool: (see quot.).
| 1884 W. S. B. M{supc}Laren Spinning 19 Fine [wool] from the shoulders; neat, from the middle of the sides and back. |
d. Semi-proverbial phr. neat (but) not gaudy and variants. Also absol. and fig.
| [1602: see gaudy a.2 3.] 1700 S. Wesley Epistle to Friend concerning Poetry 5 Style is the Dress of Thought; a modest Dress, Neat, but not gaudy, will true Critics please. 1806 C. Lamb Let. 26 June (1935) II. 14 A little thin, flowery border round, neat, not gaudy. 1838 Ruskin in Archit. Mag. Nov. 484 That admiration of the ‘neat but not gaudy’, which is commonly reported to have influenced the devil when he painted his tail pea-green. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis I. xiii. 116 ‘You seem to like my dressing-gown, sir,’ he said to Mr. Tatham. ‘A pretty thing, isn't it? Neat, but not in the least gaudy.’ 1887 Lippincott's Mag. July 116, I have sent, I say, just such manuscript as editors call for, fair, clean, written on one side, not with a pencil, but with a good gold pen, stamps enclosed for return if declined; the whole thing ‘neat, but not gaudy, as the monkey said’ on the memorable occasion ‘when he painted his tail sky-blue’. 1892 Society 6 Aug. 757/1 Tennyson when in a rage is neat and not gaudy. 1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xxi. 222 If Toliver complains to the Home Secretary you say it was the C.I.A. doing it. Neat, but not gaudy. |
8. a. Of language or style: Well selected or expressed; esp. brief, clear, and to the point; cleverly or smartly put or phrased.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 2 Aptnesse of words and sentences respecting that they be neate and choicely picked. 1621 in Crt. & Times of Jas. I (1848) II. 277, I have heard extraordinary commendation made of a neat speech by one Pym. 1687 Evelyn Diary 27 Feb., A very quaint neate discourse of moral righteousnesse. 1706 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 165 A neat Answer made to his Paper. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 278 Though the stile be neat, The method clear, the argument exact. 1830 Macaulay Let. in Trevelyan Life (1876) I. 196 A clear and neat statement of the points in controversy. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 11, I am not sure that the simpler Hottentot version is not the neater of the two. |
b. Of preparations, esp. in cookery: Dainty, elegant, tasteful.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 48 Arui. How Angell-like he sings? Gui. But his neate Cookerie? 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 51 A very neat and curious Banquet. 1668–9 Pepys Diary 26 Feb., Had a mighty neat dish of custards and tarts. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Misc. Tracts (1684) 10 The Camphyre that we use is a neat preparation of the same. 1731 Bolingbroke in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 127 You keep servants and horses, and frequently give little neat dinners. 1799 Underwood Diseases Children (ed. 4) I. 55 A few grains of magnesia..forms a much neater medicine. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 248 The male [fowls] making the best roast, and the female the neatest boil. |
c. Cleverly contrived or executed; involving special accuracy or precision.
| 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie x. H iij b, The Orbes celestiall Will daunce Kemps Iigge. They'le revel with neate iumps. 1625 Massinger New Way v. i, Was it not a rare trick..to make the deed nothing? I can do twenty neater. 1675 A. Browne App. Art Limning 10 Rather make choice of a good Free and Bold Following of Nature, then to affect an extreme Neat way. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 150 The neatest part of the process consists in the joining of the points of the two rods. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xi. III. 90 A neater specimen of legislative workmanship. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iv, This was a neat and happy turn to give the subject. |
9. a. Of persons (and animals): Inclined to cleanliness or tidiness.
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 154 Let euery young man be neate, not nastie. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 502 Wherein is he..neat and cleanly, but to carue a Capon, and eat it? 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 46 He was very neat, loving clenlinesse both in apparrell and diet. 1670 Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 441 The neatest person may sometimes slip into a slough. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 16 ¶2 He was remarkably neat in his dress. 1802 Paley Nat. Theol. xv. (1817) 132 Inhabiting dirt, it is, of all animals, the neatest. 1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. i. 14 He was neat and methodical in all small matters. 1898 Cable 9 Apr. 231/1 A neat farmer is easily distinguished by his fences. |
| transf. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 121 Finding one haire in a platter of meat, they will not touch it... So strict are they in their neat Superstition. |
b. Exhibiting skill and precision in action or expression.
| 1612 Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. iv. 215 Your more neat judgements..rather make it symbolicall than truely proper. a 1623 Fletcher Wife for Month i. ii, Men. To be a villain is no such rude matter. Cam. No, if he be a neat one. 1684 tr. Agrippa's Van. Arts liv. 148 In Discourse, the Italians are grave,..the Spaniards neat,..the French quick and ready. 1806 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Tristia Wks. 1812 V. 337 You paint so sweetly Love's alarms The neat Historian of their charms. |
10. Put or kept in good order, tidy.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 117 Now my spruce companions, is all readie, and all things neate? 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Bristol 10 Apr., The exchanges are all noble buildings..and kept wonderfully neat. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman I. xxxi. 311 A tradesman's books should always be kept clean and neat. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho v, They met with simple but neat accommodation. 1865 C. M. Yonge Clever Woman I. 296 The hair and dress, though always neat, and still as simply arranged as possible. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 14 Everything is very neat about him and very quiet. |
11. a. slang. In ironical use: Rare, fine.
| 1827 T. Creevey in C. Papers (1904) II. 138 So much for my new friend! Is he not a neat one? 1828 Ibid. 186 His wife seems to have been quite as neat an article as his sister. |
b. colloq. Excellent, desirable, attractive.
| 1934 J. T. Farrell Calico Shoes 54 A girl in a two-piece bathing suit without brassière walked by them. ‘Oh, baby, you can make me so happy!’ Don sing-songed. ‘Neat!’ Jack appraised. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §29/4 Excellent; first-rate{ddd}neat. 1947 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 10 May 26/1 Each of these adjoining rooms has a radio in it, which they find ‘neat’ and I don't. 1972 D. Westheimer Over Edge (1974) i. 10 ‘I could drive you on into Idyllwild if you want...’ ‘That would be neat.’ 1974 Washington Post 24 Feb. H. 13/5 I've passed up some neat dinner invitations. |
12. Comb., as neat-faced, neat-fingered, neat-footed, neat-limbed; also neat-handed.
| 1641 Milton Animadv. Wks. 1851 III. 200 Doubtlesse the neat finger'd Artist will answer yes. 1747 Mem. Nutrebian Crt. II. 252 The neat-limbed Nugmeg suckling the infant. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Old Margate Hoy, Thy neat-fingered practice in the culinary vocation. 1844 Ld. Houghton Palm Leaves 109 That bright-eyed and neat-limbed boy. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. ix. 293 For the sake Of his neat-footed bride. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xlii, The pale, neat-faced copying clerk. |
B. adv. a. Neatly.
| 1665 Hooke Microgr. 195 Its head was much bigger and neater shap'd. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 53 She was dressed extremely neat, without show or ostentation. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 423 The rest..he disposes neat At measured distances. 1822 J. Platts Bk. Curiosities 752 To lay their colour or ink neater on the paper. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xiv, I think I could do it neater than you. |
b. Comb., as neat-bound, neat-cut, neat-dressed, neat-polished.
| 1729 Savage Wanderer v. 43 Neat polish'd mansions rise in prospect gay. 1757 Dyer Fleece iii. Poems (1761) 138 The neat-dress'd housewives..Come tripping on. 1782 Pennant Journ. Chest. to Lond. 127 Moxhull hall, the neat-dressed seat of Mr. Hacket. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Thoughts on Books, To be strong-backed and neat-bound is the desideratum of a volume. a 1852 Moore Case of Libel x, A cloven hoof, Through a neat-cut Hoby smoking out. |
▪ III. neat, v. Now rare or Obs.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. (and intr.) To make neat; † to clean.
| 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 356 It shall be more expedient, to neate and purge the snuffers, than to snuffe the candels. ? 1579 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 101 Our bottismen our geir perfytlie neits. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xl. (1887) 231 The houres before learning..are to be bestowed, vpon either neating of the bodie, or solacing of the minde. a 1658 Durham Exp. Revelation vi. (1680) 32 A girdle..was used for neating the long robe. 1736 Pegge Alph. Kenticisms s.v., ‘She neats about’, i.e. she goes about the house, making things neat and clean. |
2. trans. To clear, net (a sum).
| 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. I. 246 It would have neated only 2d a foot. 1803 Trans. Soc. Arts XXI. 120 These have..neated fully eighteen pounds ten shillings an acre. |