Lexicon: nicely – nimble

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nicely, adv. [see nice, adj.]

Delicately; precariously; skillfully; adeptly; accurately; exactly.

nickname (-ed), v. [ON aukanafn, an additional name.]

Dub; give a pet name; call by a cognomen, moniker, or epithet.

Nicodemus (Nicodemus'), proper n. [Gk nikos, conquest + dēmos, people = 'victorious among his people'.]

New Testament pharisee; follower who asked Christ how a man may be born again; man who came to prepare the body of Christ for burial before the resurrection (see ED's letters); [phrase “Nicodemus' Mystery”] question posed by Nicodemus to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old?” (see John 3:1-21).

niggard, adj. [Obscure origin; probably Scandinavian.]

Sparing; stingy; miserly; [fig.] insufficient; deficient; meager; inadequate; short-term; small in amount of time.

niggardly, adj. [see niggard, adj.]

  1. Avaricious; mean; petty; covetous.
  2. Sparse; insufficient; deficient; meager; inadequate.

night (-s, -'s), n. [OE.]

  1. Nox; [personification] time of darkness from dusk to dawn.
  2. Time preceding daylight; hours from sunset to sunrise; period when the sun is beneath the horizon.
  3. Evening; time prior to the next day.
  4. Darkness; decline of the day.
  5. Ignorance; moral darkness; warped state; concealment from the eyes; obscurity.
  6. Death; end of life.
  7. Dark half of day; twelve hours of darkness; [fig.] brief time of death; short period of dying.
  8. Adversity; distress; state of unrest.
  9. Phrase. “Good night”: evening greeting; salutation for bedtime; [fig.] farewell to deceased loved one.
  10. Phrase. “Wild nights”: process of dying; time of death; passing away to the other side (see L331, ED's 1869 letter to Perez Cowan, “Dying is a wild Night”).
  11. Phrase. “Last night”: the previous evening; the evening of the day before.

nightfall, n. [see night, n. + fall, v.]

Dusk; evening; sunset; end of day; beginning of night.

nightgown (-s), n. [see night, n. + gown, n.]

  1. Sleep wear; soft dress worn to bed; [fig.] sepals that close at night to protect a flower's petals and inner parts.
  2. Shift; chemise; tunic; garment to keep one warm; [metaphor] angel robe; [fig.] feathers.

nightingale, n. [OE nihtegale.]

Song-bird; philomela; a thrush which has a melodious nocturnal song; [epithet] Charlotte Brontë; the beloved author.

nimble, adj. [OE.]

  1. Agile; adroit; artful; ready to act; [fig.] thoughtful; attentive.
  2. Lively; swift; energetic; [fig.] spiritually alive.
  3. Gymnastic; limber; supple; full of activity.