nigh (ni)

[ Yt were better worthy trewely A worme to neghen ner my flour than thou. Chaucer , Prol. to Good Women, 1. 318. Love gan nyghe me nere. Rom . of the Rose , 1. 1775 The joyous time now nighes fast That shall alegge this bitter blast. Spenser, Shep. Cal., March. The laden heart IMG:content-1368.png:[blocks in formation] nighlyt (ni'li), adv. [ Their weedes bene not so nighly wore. Spenser , Shep. Cal., July. Suppose a man born blind, and now adult, and taught by his touch to distinguish between a cube and sphere, (suppose) of ivory, nighly of the same bigne , so as to tell felt one and other. 2. A rounded boulder or rock; especially, a 3t. Near the quick; keenly; bitterly. roundish black rock on the coast of Florida, sometimes covered with only a few inches of water. niggerish (nig'er-ish), a. [ When I say "colored," I mean one thing, respectfully, and when I say niggerish , I mean another, disgustedly. The Atlantic, XVIII. 79. nigger-killer (nig'er-kil"ėr), n . The whip-tailed scorpion: same as grampus , 6. [Florida.] niggerling (nig'er-ling), n. [ nigger2 + -ling1 .] A little nigger. All the little Niggerlings emerge As lily-white as mu els. Hood , A Black Job. "Oh see!" quoth he, "those niggerlings three, Who have just got emancipation." Barham , In golds by Legends, II. 395. niggery (nig'ėr-i), a . [ nigger2 +-y1.] Niggerish. [Colloq.] The dialect of the entire population is e entially and New York Tribune , May, 1862. unmistakably niggery . niggett, n. See nidget . niggisht (nig'ish), a . [ Nothing is distributed after a niggish sort, neither is there any poor man or beggar. Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 12. niggle (nig'l), v. [Appar. freq. of nig2 , v.; but ef. AS. hnyglan, hnygela , shreds, parings. As in nig2 , two or more words may be ult. con- cerned. The history is scant.] I. in trans. 1. To eat sparingly; nibble. Hall i well . [Prov. Eng.]-21. To act in a mincing manner; work in a finicking, fu y way. 3. To trifle; be employed in trifling or petty carping. Take heed, daughter, You niggle not with your conscience. Mas singer , Emperor of the East, v. 3. Niggling articles, which enumerate the mistakes and mi tatements of a book, ignoring the fact that, with much carele ne of detail, the author has shown a great grasp of knowledge of his subject. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 53. Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, That dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot. Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. 185. 4. Nearly; almost; within a little (of being). Hue may ney as moc he do in a mount he one As zoure secret seel in sex score dayes. Piers Plowman (C), iv. 182. Brother, now lepe vp lightly, for grete foly haue ye do to go so fer oute of oure company, for full nygh hadde ye more loste than wonne. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 196. Shak ., 2 Hen. VI., iii. 2. 82. Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea? The rustic who, musing vacantly, seems deep in thought, is not really thinking; he is pretty nigh unconscious, and therefore goes on musing for any length of time without wearine . Maudsley , Mind, XII. 498. II. prep . Near to; at no great distance from. Pros. But was not this nigh shore? Ari . Close by, my master. Shak . , Tempest, i. 2. 216. The booke seith that... [the town] stode vpon a plain grounde, ne ther was nother hill ne mount eyne ny it of two myle. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 254. He wones to nyze the ale-wyffe, And he thouht ever fore to thryffe. MS . Ashmole 61. ( Hall i well . ) But no Cristen man ys not suffered for to come ny it [the gate]. Torkington , Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 30.