See Also: Neat(medicine)
neat(1)(dictionary)
neat(2)(dictionary)
neat(dictionary)
neat(dictionary)
NEAT or NET, contracts(law)

neat(1) (iou)



neat adjective & adverb. [ni:t] M16.
[Old & mod. French net from Latin nitidus shining, clean, from nitere to shine. Cf. NET adjective2.]
A. adjective.
I. Clean; free from dirt or impurities. M16-M17.
Clear, bright. L16-L18.
Of a substance or solution, esp. alcoholic liquor: unadulterated; not mixed with water, undiluted. L16.
neat cement a mortar made from cement and water only, without the addition of sand.
A. Tyler One Pabst, one Jack Daniel's neat. H. Carpenter They drank neat gin out of aluminium cups.
a. Free from any reductions; clear, net. arch. L16.
James Mill He offered to give a neat sum, to cover all expenses.
b. Exact, precise. Now Scot. & dial. L17.
II. (Of a person) refined, elegant, smart, esp. in dress; (of dress) elegant, trim. M16-M17.
Jonson Still to be neat, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast.
Characterized by an elegant simplicity of form or arrangement; nicely made or proportioned. M16.
neat but not gaudy, neat not gaudy pleasingly elegant without being showy.
G. Berkeley The gardens are neat, spacious, and kept in good order. absol.: J. R. Lowell Pope had a sense of the neat rather than of the beautiful.
a. Of language or style: well selected or expressed; pithy, brief; epigrammatic. Cf. earlier NEATNESS 2. L16.
Ld Macaulay A clear and neat statement of the points in controversy.
b. Cleverly contrived or executed; involving special accuracy or precision. L16.
W. Greener The neatest part of the process..the joining of the points of the two rods. Dickens This was a neat and happy turn to give the subject.
c. Of a (freq. culinary) preparation: dainty, elegant, tasteful. arch. E17.
S. Pepys Had a mighty neat dish of custards and tarts.
Tidy, methodical; well-organized; in good order. Also (arch.), (of a person) skilful and precise in action or expression. L16.
C. M. Yonge The hair and dress..always neat. H. James He was fastidiously neat in his person. I. Murdoch She made the beds and tidied Paul's things..into neat piles.
Orig. (iron.), rare, fine. Later, good, excellent; desirable, attractive. slang. E19.
Washington Post I've passed up some neat dinner invitations. J. Rule To go to some really neat place for Christmas, like Mexico.
Comb.: neat-handed adjective deft in handling things, dexterous; neat-handedness the quality of being neat-handed.
b. adverb. Neatly. arch. M17.
neatify verb trans. (now rare or obsolete) make neat, purify L16.
neatly adverb M16.