Nobly No"bly adverb 1. Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended. 2. In a noble manner; with greatness of soul; heroically; with magnanimity; as, a deed nobly done. 3. Splendidly; magnificently. Syn. -- Illustriously; honorably; magnanimously; heroically; worthly; eminently; grandly.
Nobody No"bod·y noun ;
plural Nobodies . [
No , adjective +
body .]
1. No person; no one; not anybody. 2. Hence:
A person of no influence or importance; an insignificant or contemptible person. [ Colloq.]
Nocake No"cake noun [ Corrupted from Indian
nookhik meal.
Palfrey. ]
Indian corn parched, and beaten to powder, -- used for food by the Northern American Indians.
Nocent No"cent adjective [ Latin
nocens , present participle of
nocere to hurt. See
Nuisance ,
Noxious .]
1. Doing hurt, or having a tendency to hurt; hurtful; mischievous; noxious; as, nocent qualities. I. Watts. 2. Guilty; -- the opposite of innocent . [ Obsolete]
Foxe.
Nocent No"cent noun A criminal. [ Obsolete]
Sir T. Browne.
Nocently No"cent·ly adverb Hurtfully; injuriously. [ R.]
Nocive No"cive adjective [ Latin
nocivus , from
nocere to hurt.]
Hurtful; injurious. [ R.]
Hooker.
Nock Nock noun [ See
Notch .]
1. A notch. He took his arrow by the nock .
Chapman. 2. (Nautical) The upper fore corner of a boom sail or of a trysail.
Nock Nock transitive verb To notch; to fit to the string, as an arrow; to string, as a bow. Chapman.
Noctambulation Noc·tam`bu·la"tion noun [ Latin
nox ,
noctis , night +
ambulare to walk: confer French
noctambulation .]
Somnambulism; walking in sleep. Quain.
Noctambulism Noc·tam"bu·lism noun Somnambulism.
Noctambulist Noc·tam"bu·list noun A somnambulist.
Noctambulo Noc·tam"bu·lo noun A noctambulist. [ Obsolete]
Noctidial Noc·tid"i·al adjective [ Latin
nox ,
noctos , night +
dies day.]
Comprising a night and a day; a noctidial day. [ R.]
Holder.
Noctiferous Noc·tif"er·ous adjective [ Latin
noctifer ;
nox ,
noctis + ferre to bring.]
Bringing night. [ Obsolete]
Johnson.
Noctilionid Noc·til"i·o·nid noun [ Etymol. uncertain.]
(Zoology) A South American bat of the genus Noctilio , having cheek pouches and large incisor teeth.
Noctiluca Noc`ti·lu"ca noun ;
plural NoctilucÆ . [ Latin
noctiluca something that shines by night, from
nox ,
noctis , night +
lucere to shine,
lux light.]
1. (Old Chem.) That which shines at night; -- a fanciful name for phosphorus. 2. (Zoology) A genus of marine flagellate Infusoria, remarkable for their unusually large size and complex structure, as well as for their phosphorescence. The brilliant diffuse phosphorescence of the sea is often due to myriads of Noctilucæ.
Noctilucin Noc·ti·lu"cin noun (Zoology) A fatlike substance in certain marine animals, to which they owe their phosphorescent properties.
Noctilucine Noc`ti·lu"cine adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to Noctiluca.
Noctilucous Noc`ti·lu"cous adjective Shining in the night.
Noctivagant Noc·tiv"a·gant adjective [ Latin
nox ,
noctis , night +
vagans , present participle of
vagari to wander about.]
(Zoology) Going about in the night; night-wandering.
Noctivagation Noc·tiv`a·ga"tion noun A roving or going about in the night. Gayton.
Noctivagous Noc·tiv"a·gous adjective [ Latin
noctivagus ;
nox ,
noctis + vagus wandering.]
Noctivagant.
Noctograph Noc"to·graph noun [ Latin
nox ,
noctis , night +
-graph .]
1. A kind of writing frame for the blind. 2. An instrument or register which records the presence of watchmen on their beats. Knight.
Noctuary Noc"tu·a·ry noun [ Latin
noctu by night.]
A record of what passes in the night; a nightly journal; -- distinguished from diary . [ R.]
Addison.
Noctuid Noc"tu·id noun [ From Latin
nox ,
noctis , night.]
(Zoology) Any one of numerous moths of the family Noctuidæ , or Noctuælitæ , as the cutworm moths, and armyworm moths; -- so called because they fly at night. --
adjective Of or pertaining to the noctuids, or family Noctuidæ .
Noctule Noc"tule noun [ French, from Latin
noctua a night owl, from
nox ,
noctis , night.]
(Zoology) A large European bat ( Vespertilio, or Noctulina, altivolans ).
Nocturn Noc"turn noun [ French
nocturne , from Latin
nocturnus . See
Nocturnal , and confer
Nocturne .]
1. An office of devotion, or act of religious service, by night. 2. One of the portions into which the Psalter was divided, each consisting of nine psalms, designed to be used at a night service. Hook.
Nocturnal Noc·tur"nal adjective [ Latin
nocturnalis ,
nocturnus , from
nox ,
noctis , night. See
Night , and confer
Nocturn .]
1. Of, pertaining to, done or occuring in, the night; as, nocturnal darkness, cries, expedition, etc.; -- opposed to diurnal . Dryden. 2. Having a habit of seeking food or moving about at night; as, nocturnal birds and insects.
Nocturnal Noc·tur"nal noun An instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the stars, etc., at sea. I. Watts.
Nocturnally Noc·tur"nal·ly adverb By night; nightly.
Nocturne Noc·turne" noun [ French See
Nocturn .]
(Mus.) A night piece, or serenade. The name is now used for a certain graceful and expressive form of instrumental composition, as the nocturne for orchestra in Mendelsohn's "Midsummer-Night's Dream" music.
Nocument Noc"u·ment noun [ Late Latin
nocumentum , from Latin
nocere to hurt.]
Harm; injury; detriment. [ Obsolete]
Nocuous Noc"u·ous adjective [ Latin
nocuus , from
nocere to hurt.]
Hurtful; noxious. [ R.] --
Noc"u*ous*ly ,
adverb [ R.]
Nod Nod intransitive verb [ Middle English
nodden ; confer Old High German
kn...t...n , ge
nuot...n , to shake, and English
nudge .]
1. To bend or incline the upper part, with a quick motion; as, nodding plumes. 2. To incline the head with a quick motion; to make a slight bow; to make a motion of assent, of salutation, or of drowsiness, with the head; as, to nod at one. 3. To be drowsy or dull; to be careless. Nor is it Homer nods , but we that dream.
Pope.
Nod Nod transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Nodded ;
present participle & verbal noun Nodding .]
1. To incline or bend, as the head or top; to make a motion of assent, of salutation, or of drowsiness with; as, to nod the head. 2. To signify by a nod; as, to nod approbation. 3. To cause to bend. [ Poetic]
By every wind that nods the mountain pine.
Keats.
Nod Nod noun 1. A dropping or bending forward of the upper part or top of anything. Like a drunken sailor on a mast,
Ready with every nod to tumble down.
Shak. 2. A quick or slight downward or forward motion of the head, in assent, in familiar salutation, in drowsiness, or in giving a signal, or a command. A look or a nod only ought to correct them [ the children] when they do amiss.
Locke. Nations obey my word and wait my nod .
Prior. The land of Nod ,
sleep.
Nodal Nod"al adjective Of the nature of, or relating to, a node; as, a nodal point. Nodal line ,
Nodal point ,
in a vibrating plate or cord, that line or point which remains at rest while the other parts of the body are in a state of vibration.
Nodated No"da·ted adjective [ Latin
nodatus , past participle of
nodare to make knotty, from
nodus knot. See
Node .]
Knotted. Nodated hyperbola (Geom.) ,
a certain curve of the third order having two branches which cross each other, forming a node.
Nodation No·da"tion noun [ Latin
nodatio knottiness.]
Act of making a knot, or state of being knotted. [ R.]
Nodder Nod"der noun One who nods; a drowsy person.
Nodding Nod"ding adjective Curved so that the apex hangs down; having the top bent downward.
Noddle Nod"dle noun [ Middle English
nodil ,
nodle ; perhaps from
nod , because the head is the nodding part of the body, or perhaps akin to English
knot ; confer Prov. English
nod the nape of the neck.]
1. The head; - - used jocosely or contemptuously. Come, master, I have a project in my noddle .
L'Estrange. 2. The back part of the head or neck. [ Obsolete]
For occasion . . . turneth a bald noddle , after she hath presented her locks in front, and no hold taken.
Bacon.
Noddy Nod"dy noun ;
plural Noddies . [ Prob. from
nod to incline the head, either as in assent, or from drowsiness.]
1. A simpleton; a fool. L'Estrange. 2. (Zoology) (a) Any tern of the genus Anous , as A. stolidus . (b) The arctic fulmar ( Fulmarus glacialis ). Sometimes also applied to other sea birds. 3. An old game at cards. Halliwell. 4. A small two-wheeled one-horse vehicle. 5. An inverted pendulum consisting of a short vertical flat spring which supports a rod having a bob at the top; -- used for detecting and measuring slight horizontal vibrations of a body to which it is attached.
Node Node noun [ Latin
nodus ; perhaps akin to English
knot . Confer
Noose ,
Nowed .]
1. A knot, a knob; a protuberance; a swelling. 2. Specifically:
(a) (Astron.) One of the two points where the orbit of a planet, or comet, intersects the ecliptic, or the orbit of a satellite intersects the plane of the orbit of its primary. (b) (Botany) The joint of a stem, or the part where a leaf or several leaves are inserted. (c) (Dialing) A hole in the gnomon of a dial, through which passes the ray of light which marks the hour of the day, the parallels of the sun's declination, his place in the ecliptic, etc. (d) (Geom.) The point at which a curve crosses itself, being a double point of the curve. See Crunode , and Acnode . (e) (Mech.) The point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions; -- called also knot . W. R. Johnson. (f) (poet.) The knot, intrigue, or plot of a piece. (g) (Medicine) A hard concretion or incrustation which forms upon bones attacked with rheumatism, gout, or syphilis; sometimes also, a swelling in the neighborhood of a joint. Dunglison. (h) (Mus) One of the fixed points of a sonorous string, when it vibrates by aliquot parts, and produces the harmonic tones; nodal line or point. (i) (Zoology) A swelling. Ascending node (Astron.) ,
the node at which the body is passing northerly, marked with a symbol called the Dragon's head . Called also northern node . --
Descending node ,
the node at which the body is moving southwardly, called Dragon's tail . --
Line of nodes ,
a straight line joining the two nodes of an orbit.
Nodical Nod"ic·al adjective Of or pertaining to the nodes; from a node to the same node again; as, the nodical revolutions of the moon. Nodical month .
See Lunar month , under Month .
Nodosarine No`do·sa"rine adjective (Zoology) Resembling in form or structure a foraminiferous shell of the genus Nodosaria . --
noun (Zoology) A foraminifer of the genus Nodosaria or of an allied genus.
Nodose No·dose" adjective [ Latin
nodosus , from
nodus knot.]
1. Knotty; having numerous or conspicuous nodes. 2. (Zoology) Having nodes or prominences; having the alternate joints enlarged, as the antennæ of certain insects.
Nodosity No·dos"i·ty noun [ Latin
nodositas .]
1. The quality of being knotty or nodose; resemblance to a node or swelling; knottiness. Holland. 2. A knot; a node.
Nodosous, Nodous No·do"sous, No"dous adjective Nodose; knotty; knotted. [ Obsolete]
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