Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Not aligned with, supporting, or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest.
- adj. Belonging to neither side in a controversy: on neutral ground.
- adj. Belonging to neither kind; not one thing or the other.
- adj. Sexless; neuter.
- adj. Chemistry Of or relating to a solution or compound that is neither acidic nor alkaline.
- adj. Chemistry Of or relating to a compound that does not ionize in solution.
- adj. Physics Of or relating to a particle, an object, or a system that has neither positive nor negative electric charge.
- adj. Physics Of or relating to a particle, object, or system that has a net electric charge of zero.
- adj. Of or indicating a color, such as gray, black, or white, that lacks hue; achromatic.
- adj. Linguistics Pronounced with the tongue in a middle position, neither high nor low, as the a in around.
- n. A nation nonaligned with either side in a war.
- n. A citizen of such a nation.
- n. One who takes no side in a controversy: "I am by disposition one of life's neutrals, a human Switzerland” ( John Gregory Dunne).
- n. A neutral hue.
- n. A position in which a set of gears is disengaged so that power cannot be transmitted.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In the condition of one who refrains from taking sides in a contest or dispute; taking no active part with either of two contestants or belligerents; not engaged on or interfering with either side.
- Belonging to a neutral state: as, neutral ships; a neutral flag.
- Neither one thing nor the other; intermediate; indifferent; mediocre.
- In chem., exhibiting neither acid nor alkaline qualities: as, neutral salts.
- In botany, sexless; having neither stamens nor pistils, as the ray-flowers of many Composite, the marginal flowers of Hydrangea, and the upper florets of many grasses. See cut under Hydrangea.
- In electricity and magnetism, not electrified; not magnetized.
- In color, of low chroma; without positive quality of color; grayish.
- n. A person, party, or nation that takes no part in a contest between others; one who or that which occupies a neutral or indifferent position.
- In metallurgy:
- Neither acid nor basic: said of slag and linings.
- Neither red-short nor cold-short: said of wrought-iron.
- Suitable for production of neutral iron: said of iron-ore.
- See zone.
- n. Specifically, in some United States colleges and universities, one who belongs to none of the Greek-letter or other secret societies.
- n. In electricity, the neutral conductor of a three-wire circuit.
Wiktionary
- adj. Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned.
- adj. Favouring neither the supporting nor opposing viewpoint of a topic of debate; unbiased.
- adj. grammar Neither positive nor negative.
- adj. Neither beneficial nor harmful.
- adj. Having no sex; neuter.
- adj. Having no obvious colour; gray
- adj. physics Neither positive nor negative; possessing no charge or equivalent positive and negative charge such that there is no imbalance.
- adj. chemistry Having a pH of 7, neither acidic nor alkaline.
- n. A nonaligned state, or a member of such a state.
- n. A person who takes no side in a dispute.
- n. An individual or entity serving as an arbitrator or adjudicator (jargon / legal).
- n. A neutral hue.
- n. The position of a set of gears in which power cannot be transmitted to the drive mechanism.
- n. An electrical terminal or conductor which has zero or close to zero voltage with respect to the ground.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Not engaged on either side; not taking part with or assisting either of two or more contending parties; neuter; indifferent.
- adj. Neither good nor bad; of medium quality; middling; not decided or pronounced.
- adj. (Biol.) Neuter. See Neuter, a., 3.
- adj. (Chem.) Having neither acid nor basic properties; unable to turn red litmus blue or blue litmus red; -- said of certain salts or other compounds. Contrasted with
acid , andalkaline . - n. A person or a nation that takes no part in a contest between others; one who is neutral.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having no net electric charge
- adj. having only a limited ability to react chemically; chemically inactive
- adj. not supporting or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest
- adj. having no personal preference
- adj. having no hue
- adj. lacking distinguishing quality or characteristics
- adj. possessing no distinctive quality or characteristics
- n. one who does not side with any party in a war or dispute
Etymologies
- From Middle French neutral (French: neutre), from Latin neutralis. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English neuteral, from Old French neutral, from Latin neutrālis, grammatically neuter, from neuter, neutr-; see neuter. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The neutral monism I advocate, accordingly, has more in common with the ontology of the late Platonic dialogues than with that of the early Russell which the name ˜neutral monism™ commonly brings to mind.”
“_semi-neutral_ Gray is distinguished from the _neutral_ Grey, which springs in an infinite series from the mixture of the neutral black and white.”
Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists
“Holly studied Dante, her expression neutral and composed.”
““Commander Worf will certainly be gratified to hear that,” Taurik said, his expression neutral and his tone impassive, but it was still more than enough to elicit from Chen an unrestrained belly laugh.”
Simon & Schuster: Star Trek: Typhon Pact Paths of Disharmony
“Matt was careful to keep his expression neutral as he palmed the knife and shifted his grip on it.”
“Through force of will, West kept his expression neutral and said nothing.”
“And when I used the term neutral on the 19th, it was consistent with the way I had used the term neutral in that other conversation.”
CNN Transcript - Special Event: Congressional Hearings on Marc Rich Pardon Resume - February 8, 2001
“And so when I used the term neutral again, on January 19, what I was conveying to her, I hope, was that the position I had or the reason I was neutral was the same.”
“Daniel smiled—just for a second, and then he made his expression neutral again, but a second was long enough.”
“His bedroom furniture was where he expected it to be, and he forced himself to keep his expression neutral as he walked inside and shut the door behind him.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘neutral’.
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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Describing the Taste of Foods
yummy, zesty, piquant, pungent, sharp, spicy, poignant, delicious, ambrosial, appetizing, delectable, heavenly and 194 more...
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The Universal Calculator
Obviates the need for other devices or calculations--it will have a button for everything, and it will solve everything.
qwerty keyboard, shift key, control, home, end, pause, log, sin, space, enter, plus, numb and 241 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Odd Anagrams
Sets of anagrams that have contrasting or related meanings.
casual, causal, parental, paternal, prenatal, atoners, senator, treason, listen, silent, dictionary, indicatory and 110 more...
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Buttery
Words that make me feel cozy
Noodle, Nugget, Butter, Soft, Snug, Feather, Socks, Knit, Mug, Curl, Billow, Lounge and 315 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
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feeling words
twitterpated, loquacious, ambiguous, pensive, sluggish, anxious, adventurous, curious, abandoned, absent-minded, abrasive, abused and 653 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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