
nab | nab: v. catch, capture, arrest, put or place under arrest, seize, apprehend, pick up, bring in, take into custody, Colloq pinch, collar, run in, nail, Brit nick: They finally nabbed that cat burglar in Hampstead.
nag� | nag�: v. 1 Sometimes, nag at. annoy, irritate, irk, pester, criticize, ride, scold, carp (at), upbraid, badger, harass, harry, vex, henpeck, torment, hector, pick at, goad, pick on, find fault with, berate, nettle, bully, provoke, plague, worry, bother, Brit chivvy or chivy or chevy, Colloq needle: He nags her day and night about going on a diet. --n. 2 scold, harpy, pest, shrew, virago, termagant, fishwife: You certainly can be a terrible nag, can''t you?
nag� | nag�: n. jade, Rosinante; horse, hack, pony, dobbin, racehorse, Thoroughbred, Slang gee-gee, US hayburner, plug, bangtail, gee-gee: That old nag wouldn''t be able to clear the fence.
nagging | nagging: adj. distressing, chronic, continuous, continual, persistent, unrelenting, relentless, recurring: He complains of a nagging pain in his shoulder. I have a nagging feeling that I have an appointment to be somewhere.
nail | nail: n. 1 fastener, fastening, spike, pin: The pieces were held together by several nails. 2 fingernail, toenail, claw, talon: The detective found some fibres under the victim''s nails. 3 bite one''s nails. worry, agonize, fret, lose sleep (over), chafe, suffer, Colloq stew (over or about): Carl is biting his nails over the result of his cholesterol test. 4 hard or tough as nails. a tough, vigorous, hardy: After years of mountain-climbing, Ren� is as hard as nails. b cold, unsentimental, unsympathetic, unfeeling: The boss, as hard as nails, doesn''t care what you sacrifice to get the job done. 5 hit the nail on the head. be accurate, be correct, be precise, be right, put (one''s) finger on it: When you said they were fools, you really hit the nail on the head. 6 on the nail. immediately, at once, straight or right away, promptly, without delay, on the spot, Colloq US on the barrel-head: He has always paid his bills right on the nail. --v. 7 attach, secure, join, pin, tack, clinch or clench; fasten, fix, focus, rivet, glue: The door to the mysterious room was nailed shut. His eyes were nailed to the pressure gauge. 8 See nab, above. 9 hit, strike; punch; shoot: She nailed him with a left hook and he sank like a stone. 10 nail down. settle, secure, resolve, complete, conclude, make final; finalize: Let''s celebrate: I nailed down the order for 10,000 air-conditioning units.
na�ve | na�ve: adj. naive or na�f, ingenuous, innocent, credulous, childlike, born yesterday, unaffected, unsophisticated, inexperienced, green, unworldly, unsuspecting, unenlightened, unsuspicious, trusting, trustful, gullible, artless, guileless, simple, simplistic, simple-minded, unpretentious, unpretending, candid, natural: Is Chatterley na�ve enough to believe that the gamekeeper''s meetings with his wife were to discuss fox-hunting?
na�vety | na�vety: n. naivety, na�vet� or na�vet�, ingenuousness, innocence, credulity, credulousness, inexperience, (blind) trust, gullibility, artlessness, callowness, guilelessness, simplicity, unpretentiousness, candour, naturalness, frankness, openness, sincerity: I hope that no one takes advantage of her na�vety.
naked | naked: adj. 1 stark naked, unclothed, undraped, bare, exposed, stripped, undressed, unclad, uncovered, bared, nude, in the nude, Colloq in the altogether, in one''s birthday suit, in the buff, in the raw, au naturel, in a state of nature, Brit starkers, in the nuddy: The two of them stood there, completely naked. 2 unaided, unassisted: Stars of the seventh magnitude or brighter are visible to the naked eye. 3 plain, unadorned, unembellished, stark, overt, patent, obvious, conspicuous, manifest, sheer, undisguised, unvarnished, unmitigated, evident, palpable, unconcealed, in plain sight or view, blatant, barefaced, undeniable, glaring, flagrant, unmistakable or unmistakeable, unalloyed, unmixed, blunt, unadulterated, pure: He told her the naked truth about how he felt. 4 unsheathed, unprotected, bare, exposed: How dare he show a naked sword in the presence of the Emperor?!
name | name: n. 1 designation, label, appellation, term, tag, style, Colloq moniker or monicker, handle: His name is Chauncy but they call him Rusty. 2 reputation; repute, honour, esteem, (high) regard, respect, rank, standing, rating, pre-eminence, superiority, eminence, notability, prominence, prestige, favour, distinction, renown, fame, popularity, celebrity: She has made a name for herself as a clever business executive. He thinks he has to protect his name as a ladies'' man. 3 personage, somebody, celebrity, star, superstar, hero, VIP, dignitary, luminary, Colloq big shot, bigwig, big cheese, big name: The programme included some well-known names in the entertainment world. --v. 4 label, tag, style, entitle; call, dub, christen, baptize: They named their book ''The Alien Tongue''. Why would people want to name their child ''Quercus''? 5 choose, elect, select, delegate, nominate, designate, appoint; identify, denominate, pinpoint, specify: She has been named ''Woman of the Year''. I asked her to name our wedding day. She refuses to name her attacker. 6 name names. identify, specify, mention, cite: In exchange for a lighter sentence, the witness agreed to name names.
nameless | nameless: adj. 1 unnamed, innominate, unidentified, anonymous, pseudonymous, incognito, unknown, unheard-of, unsung: How much we owe the nameless inventor of the wheel! 2 inexpressible, indefinable, unidentifiable, unspecified, unspecifiable: A nameless dread seized him as he entered the cave. 3 ineffable, unutterable, unspeakable, unmentionable, abominable, horrible, indescribable, repulsive: Paganism allowed man to sink beneath a flood of nameless sensualities.
namely | namely: adv. specifically, to wit, that is (to say), id est, i.e., videlicet, viz., scilicet, sc.; for example, for instance, exempli gratia, e.g. or eg or eg.: We visited three countries, namely, France, Italy, and Switzerland.
nap� | nap�: v. 1 doze, nod (off), catnap, Colloq catch forty winks, drop off (to sleep), get some shut-eye, snooze, zizz, US catch or log a few zees (Z''s): I nap every afternoon. --adv. 2 napping. unawares, off guard, unexpectedly, in an unguarded moment: The ball, hit to his backhand, caught him napping. --n. 3 doze, catnap, siesta, Colloq forty winks, shut-eye, snooze, zizz, Brit lie-down: Take a short nap before dinner.
nap� | nap�: n. pile, fibre, texture, weave, down, shag: Choose a carpet with a short nap for areas of heavy wear.
narcotic | narcotic: adj. 1 soporific, stuporific, hypnotic, sedative, somnolent, sleep-inducing, opiate, dulling, numbing, anaesthetic, stupefacient, stupefying, stupefactive, tranquillizing, Lethean: Most narcotic drugs may be sold only with a doctor''s prescription. --n. 2 drug, soporific, stuporific, hypnotic, sedative, opiate, anaesthetic, stupefacient, tranquillizer: Many doctors are reluctant to prescribe narcotics.
narrate | narrate: v. relate, tell, recount, report, give an account (of), recite, rehearse, repeat, review, unfold, chronicle, describe, detail, reveal, retail: She narrated a bone-chilling story of intrigue and murder. Please narrate the events leading up to your finding the body, Mrs Easton.
narration | narration: n. 1 telling, relating, unfolding, recounting, chronicling, recording, describing; report, recital, recitation, rehearsal, relation, chronicle, description, portrayal, detailing, revelation, story, tale, narrative: His narration was accompanied by nervous gestures. Her narration disagrees with her husband''s in certain essential respects. 2 reading, voice-over: The narration did not seem to be coordinated with the pictures on the screen.
narrative | narrative: n. 1 story, tale, chronicle, description, revelation, portrayal, account, report, record, history, recital, statement: The characterizations were poor, but the narrative was fascinating. --adj. 2 storytelling, chronicling, anecdotal: One of her long, narrative poems has been published in a collection.
narrator | narrator: n. reporter, storyteller, raconteur, taleteller, teller of tales, anecdotist or anecdotalist, relator, annalist, chronicler, describer, author; voice-over: We sat spellbound waiting for the narrator to continue.
narrow | narrow: adj. 1 constricted, slender, slim, thin, restricted, straitened, attenuated, narrowed; narrowing, tapering: We squeezed through the narrow passage to freedom. 2 confined, confining, limited, cramped, close, meagre, pinched, tight, incommodious: I awoke in a cell so narrow I could scarcely move. 3 strict, careful, close, precise, exact, exacting, demanding, finicky, finical, sharp, meticulous, scrupulous, fussy, rigid, searching, critical: The suspected forgeries were submitted to the narrow scrutiny of several experts. 4 restricted, limited, circumscribed, proscribed, denotative: I learnt the meaning of charity in its narrowest sense. 5 See narrow-minded, below. 6 close, hairbreadth, lucky: I''d had a very narrow escape, for the bullet just grazed my scalp. 7 stingy, niggardly, parsimonious, miserly, tight, sparing, tight-fisted, mean, mercenary Brit mingy, Dialectal near, Colloq close: He was so narrow he barely allowed himself the essentials. --v. 8 constrict, limit, qualify, reduce, lessen, diminish, decrease: She narrowed her chances of winning by buying only one lottery ticket. 9 limit, restrict, focus, confine, concentrate, narrow down: They have narrowed the search for the boy to the area near Chester. --n. 10 narrows. strait(s), channel, passage: The vessel approached the narrows at dead slow speed.
narrowly | narrowly: adv. 1 barely, (only) just, scarcely, hardly, by a hair''s breadth; by the skin of one''s teeth, Colloq by a whisker: The speeding lorry narrowly missed those children. 2 closely, carefully, meticulously, scrupulously, searchingly, critically: She regarded him narrowly before speaking.
narrow-minded | narrow-minded: adj. bigoted, prejudiced, illiberal, narrow, biased, opinionated, one-sided, intolerant, non-objective, conservative, reactionary, parochial, ultra-conservative, stiff-necked, conventional, hidebound, fundamentalist, literal-minded, narrow-spirited, mean-minded, mean-spirited, petty, pettifogging, small-minded, puritanical, unprogressive, old-fashioned, old-fogyish or old-fogeyish, strait-laced, Colloq stuffy, US close-minded, square, screed-bound, red-necked: The vote reflected a reasonable balance between broad-minded and narrow-minded factions.
nasty | nasty: adj. 1 foul, filthy, dirty, unclean, offensive, disgusting, nauseating, revolting, horrible, loathsome, repugnant, repellent, vile, odious, obnoxious, objectionable, nauseous, sickening, vomit-provoking, fetid or foetid, noisome, mephitic, rank, malodorous, rancid, noxious: The nasty stench of rotting vegetation assailed our nostrils. 2 unpleasant, disagreeable, unsavoury, painful, objectionable, annoying, untoward, awkward, difficult, bad, serious: Lord Petherbridge had some very nasty experiences in the war. 3 obscene, dirty, pornographic, blue, smutty, lewd, vulgar, sordid, indecent, licentious, gross, coarse, crude, rude, ribald, bawdy, risqu�, off colour, suggestive, Colloq X-rated, raunchy: The shops are selling some rather nasty videos that I don''t want the children to watch. 4 unpleasant, disagreeable, ugly, bad-tempered, vicious, currish, surly, abusive, spiteful, irascible, ill-natured, ill-tempered, cruel, inconsiderate, rude, churlish, obnoxious, crotchety, curmudgeonly, cantankerous, crabbed, cranky, US and Canadian mean: Why is your father so nasty to everyone who wants to go out with you? 5 bad, severe, acute, painful, serious; dangerous, critical: I got a nasty shock when I opened the cupboard door. That''s a nasty wound you have there.
nation | nation: n. country, state, land, political entity, polity, domain, realm: The countries of Europe are unlikely to become one nation.
national | national: adj. 1 nationwide, country-wide, state, governmental, civil; public, popular, US federal: It took years to enact national clean-air laws. 2 nationalistic, nationalist, patriotic, jingoistic, chauvinistic: During the war, national feelings ran high. --n. 3 citizen, subject, inhabitant, resident; native: Stephenson left England years ago and is now an Australian national.
nationalistic | nationalistic: adj. nationalist, patriotic, jingoist(ic), chauvinist(ic), xenophobic, isolationist: As communications improved, nationalistic feelings were eroded.
nationality | nationality: n. 1 citizenship: Some countries allow their citizens dual nationality. 2 race, nation, ethnic group, ethnos, clan, tribe; strain, stock, pedigree, heritage, roots, extraction, bloodline, breed: The country became a melting-pot of myriad nationalities.
native | native: adj. 1 innate, natal, inborn, natural, inherent, congenital, indwelling, inherited, hereditary, in the blood, intrinsic, constitutional: Early in life, Carla demonstrated a native ability for music. 2 domestic, local, home-grown; indigenous, autochthonous, aboriginal: The native oysters in this area are superb. 3 basic, first, best, original, exclusive: Can you tell that my native language is Hungarian? 4 national, ethnic, clan, tribal: We visited a Dutch town where the people wear traditional native dress. 5 aboriginal, provincial, local: We soon fell in with the native custom of taking a siesta. 6 born; by birth: Are you a native Glaswegian? --n. 7 aborigine, indigene, autochthon; national, citizen, resident, inhabitant: It is not difficult to distinguish the natives from the tourists in London.
natural | natural: adj. 1 ordinary, common, commonplace, normal, standard, regular, usual, customary, unexceptional, routine, habitual, typical, everyday; reasonable, logical, reasonable, sensible, accepted: They say that Count Dracula could not die a natural death. The natural thing to do in case of attack is to defend oneself. 2 normal, ordinary, regular, expected; spontaneous: The natural motion of the waves carried the bottle out to sea. 3 simple, basic, fundamental, real, unartificial, genuine, unembellished, unadorned, unpretentious: She has great natural beauty and needs no cosmetics. 4 unstudied, unconstrained, candid, frank, spontaneous, unaffected, easy, honest, straight, straightforward, artless, guileless, impulsive, unpremeditated, unaffected, ingenuous, unsophisticated, unsophistic(al): His kindness is quite natural. 5 See native, 1, above: She has a natural gift for painting. 6 true, real, genuine, actual, authentic, bona fide: That, believe it or not, is his natural hair. 7 lifelike, true to life, realistic: Note the natural colours of the sea in this painting by Whistler. 8 illegitimate, bastard: He was the duke''s natural son and had no claim on the estate. 9 consistent, consonant, consequent, logical, reasonable, fitting, appropriate, proper, expected, not incongruous, understandable: In the circumstances, it would have been natural for her to despise Jonathan. 10 organic, organically grown, non-chemical, health: They eat only natural foods, which they grow themselves. --n. 11 genius, artist, talent: When it comes to chess, Boris is a natural. 12 Archaic idiot, imbecile, simpleton, fool, halfwit: One would have to be a natural to give money to that crook.
naturally | naturally: adv. 1 (as a matter) of course, needless to say, to be sure, certainly, surely, not unexpectedly, as expected or anticipated, obviously, clearly, logically, consequently, as a consequence or result: He treated her badly, so, naturally, she refuses to see him again. 2 normally, by nature, by character, really, actually, genuinely; inherently, instinctively, innately, congenitally: My hair is naturally curly. He is not aloof, just naturally shy. 3 unaffectedly, unpretentiously, easily, candidly, openly, simply, plainly, honestly, straightforwardly, uncomplicatedly: If only politicians expressed themselves naturally and not pompously.
nature | nature: n. 1 quality, properties, features, character, personality, make-up, essence, constitution, identity, attributes, disposition, temperament, complexion: Only detailed analysis will reveal the nature of this compound. It is not in his nature to be envious. 2 universe, cosmos, world, creation, environment: Science fiction deals with phenomena and contrivances that defy the laws of nature. 3 scenery, countryside, wildness, primitiveness, simplicity: I often enjoyed sitting by the river, communing with nature. 4 kind, variety, description, sort, class, category, type, genre, species; stamp, cast, mould, feather, kidney, colour, stripe: The duties of the position are largely of a ceremonial nature. 5 by nature. See naturally, 2, above.
naught | naught: n. nought, nothing, nil, zero, aught or ought; ruin, destruction, disaster, collapse, failure: All my efforts had come to naught.
naughty | naughty: adj. 1 mischievous, impish, puckish, roguish, scampish, devilish; frolicsome, playful: The children would get naughty the minute the teacher turned her back to the class. 2 disobedient, refractory, insubordinate, bad, perverse, wicked, fractious, unruly, wayward, unmanageable, ungovernable, undisciplined, defiant, obstreperous: Naughty pupils in this school are birched. 3 improper, offensive, vulgar, indecent, immoral, risqu�, off colour, ribald, bawdy, blue, pornographic, smutty, lewd, obscene, dirty, Colloq X-rated, raunchy: The teacher caught Keith reading a naughty book.
nauseate | nauseate: v. sicken, disgust, repel, revolt, offend: Your hypocrisy nauseates me. When you get used to it, eating snails no longer seems nauseating.
nauseated | nauseated: adj. sickened, disgusted, repelled, revolted, offended, sick (to one''s stomach), queasy, squeamish; seasick, carsick, airsick: They were nauseated when they saw the cadavers. I became nauseated by the rocking of the boat.
nauseous | nauseous: adj. nauseating, loathsome, sickening, disgusting, repellent, vomit-provoking, offensive, revolting, repugnant, repulsive, abhorrent, nasty, foul, unpleasant, stomach-turning, Technical emetic: A nauseous odour emanated from the crypt.
nautical | nautical: adj. maritime, marine, seafaring, seagoing; naval; boating, yachting, sailing; navigational: Britain has always been a nautical nation. One must observe the nautical rules of the road.
navel | navel: n. Technical umbilicus, omphalos, Colloq belly button: The dancer wore a ruby in her navel.
navigable | navigable: adj. 1 passable, traversable, negotiable, unblocked, unobstructed, clear: The Thames is not navigable above Lechlade. 2 manoeuvrable, sailable, controllable, steerable, yare: My boat is navigable when under way at about four knots.
navigate | navigate: v. 1 sail, voyage, cruise, journey; cross, traverse: After navigating the Indian Ocean for a month, we reached the Seychelles. 2 manoeuvre, handle, sail, guide, pilot, steer, direct, skipper, captain, Nautical con: It was tricky navigating through the shoals. Richard has navigated the company through rough waters over the years.
navigation | navigation: n. pilotage, helmsmanship, seamanship, steersmanship, steering, sailing: The navigation of a small vessel in such a storm is no mean task.
navigator | navigator: n. pilot, helmsman, seaman, tillerman, wheelman, steersman, skipper: The navigator without knowledge of local waterways must engage a pilot.
navy | navy: n. fleet, flotilla, naval force(s), armada, Literary argosy: The entire navy sailed across the Channel to Le Havre.
naysayer | naysayer: n. denier, refuser, disdainer, rejecter or rejector; prophet of doom, pessimist, sceptic, dissenter, defeatist: Don''t expect any encouragement from a naysayer like Raymond.
