Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Neat

Neat (nēt), n. sing. & pl. [AS. neát; akin to OHG. nōz, Icel. naut, Sw. nöt, Dan. nöd, and to AS. neótan to make use of, G. geniessen, Goth. niutan to have a share in, have joy of, Lith. nauda use, profit.] (Zoöl.) Cattle of the genus Bos, as distinguished from horses, sheep, and goats; an animal of the genus Bos; as, a neat's tongue; a neat's foot. Chaucer.

Wherein the herds[men] were keeping of their neat. Spenser.

The steer, the heifer, and the calf Are all called neat. Shak.

A neat and a sheep of his own. Tusser.

Neat's-foot, an oil obtained by boiling the feet of neat cattle. It is used to render leather soft and pliable.

Neat, a. [See neat, n.] Of or pertaining to the genus Bos, or to cattle of that genus; as, neat cattle.

Neat, a. [Compar. Neater; superl. Neatest.] [OE. nett, F. nett, fr. L. nitidus, fr. nitere to shine. Cf. Nitid, Net, a., Natty.] 1. Free from that which soils, defiles, or disorders; clean; cleanly; tidy.

If you were to see her, you would wonder what poor body it was that was so surprisingly neat and clean. Law.

2. Free from what is unbecoming, inappropriate, or tawdry; simple and becoming; pleasing with simplicity; tasteful; chaste; as, a neat style; a neat dress.

3. Free from admixture or adulteration; good of its kind; as, neat brandy. "Our old wine neat." Chapman.

4. Excellent in character, skill, or performance, etc.; nice; finished; adroit; as, a neat design; a neat thief.

5. With all deductions or allowances made; net. [In this sense usually written net. See Net, a., 3.]

neat line (Civil Engin.), a line to which work is to be built or formed. — Neat work, work built or formed to neat lines.

Syn. — Nice; pure; cleanly; tidy; trim; spruce.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.