| 释义 |
nigh
I. \ˈnī\ adverb
(-er/-est)
Etymology: Middle English nigh, neigh, neih, neh, adverb & adjective, from Old English nēah, nēh; akin to Old Saxon nāh, adverb & adjective, nigh, Middle Dutch nā, preposition & adverb, Old High German nāh, adverb & adjective, nigh, preposition, nigh, after, Old Norse nā- (in composition) nigh, Gothic nehw, nehwa, adverb, nigh, and perhaps to Sanskrit naśati he attains, reaches — more at enough
1. : near in place, time, or relationship — often used with on, onto, or unto
< served … for nigh on forty years — M.S.Tisdale >
< my end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone — Alfred Tennyson >
2. : nearly, almost
< the already nigh obliterated records of childhood — Osbert Sitwell >
II. adjective
(-er/-est)
Etymology: Middle English nigh, neigh, neih, neh, from Old English nēah, nēh, adjective & adverb
1. : close
< man in … friend, brother, nighest neighbor — Walt Whitman >
— often used predicatively
< vow that my heart, when death is nigh — Sidney Lanier >
— often used with a preposition
< some so silent, dark, and nigh to death — Walt Whitman >
2. chiefly dialect : direct, short
< took a nigh cut through the hill paths home — J.H.Stuart >
3. : near IV 3b
4. chiefly dialect : stingy
III. preposition
Etymology: Middle English nigh, neigh, neih, neh, from Old English nēah, nēh, probably from nēah, nēh, adverb
: near
< everyone wanted to be next and nigh me — Padraic Colum >
IV. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English nighen, neighen, neihen, neghen, from nigh, neigh, neih, adverb
transitive verb
: to draw or come near to : approach
< strapped, noosed, nighing his hour — A.E.Housman >
intransitive verb
: to draw near |