Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. Not ever; on no occasion; at no time: He had never been there before. You never can be sure.
- adv. Not at all; in no way; absolutely not: Never fear. That will never do.
- idiom. never mind Don't bother: I was hoping for some help, but never mind, I'll do it alone.
- idiom. never mind Not to mention; and certainly not: I can't tread water, never mind swim.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future.
- In no degree; not at all; not a whit; not, emphatically.
- [Never in this use, with the following indefinite article a, is equivalent to no, or none, and in the contracted form ne'er a is the source of the dialectal or slang adjectivc nary.
- [In this idiom there is a suppressed comparison—‘never (at any other time) so (great, good, much, etc.) as in the case supposed or considered.’ Never, becoming merely emphatic, is now usually replaced by ever.
Wiktionary
- adv. At no time.
- adv. Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely).
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future.
- adv. In no degree; not in the least; not.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. not ever; at no time in the past or future
- adv. not at all; certainly not; not in any circumstances
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English nǣfre : ne, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ǣfre, ever; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“What Ardi tells us is that we never looked like chimpanzees, we �never walked like chimpanzees.”
“I've never been a game player, just a reader, but something makes we want to read this one..never heard about it until today..anyone else heard anything about this?”
“When it comes to establishment, is religion established more by an attitude that individuals, who do have religious freedom, are expected to actually *exercise* that particular muscle, or by ingraining in every faint heart the notion that you never *never* have to face the fact that others don't share your sentiments?”
“And definitely never drink and dial…..never a good idea….”
“And definitely never drink and dial…..never a good idea….”
“So, offering up a suggestion of biological causation of differences is never value-free a cigar is _never_ just a cigar and gives the supposed difference _way_ more credence than it ever deserves.”
“You never know when some nut is going to come out of the woodwork and claim you stole her idea, you're stalking George Clooney and you are drunk and disorderly on the balcony late at night...oh wait...those last two things..never mind.”
“Ohhhh but not that I am blaming him, I never never would, it's just that I wish everything was like it used to be and that he was still happy and alive and laughing and I could be too instead of feeling like this.”
“I nodded off with my head on his chest, thinking I've never been happier, I'll never leave this man, I'll never leave this place, I'll never come down, never come down ... _never come down_.”
Never Come Down
“I never, _never_ expected to see them again, and it was like some kind of bloody miracle, and you were the one who -- okay, Mrs. Gamadge says we'll both be crying in a minute so I better get on with it.”
Murder Crossed
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘never’.
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Curling, The Roaring Game
Terms and phrases associated with the game and sport of curling.
hack, tee, hogscore, hatch, trigger, stone, end, sweeper, broom, curling sheet, hog line, centre line and 282 more...
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Time
clock, forever, never, ever, ago, when, then, now, past, present, future, timeline and 119 more...
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Big Tent
Universal quantifiers, totalizing pronouns and superlatives will save us ALL (and NONE)!
everyone, nobody, all, every, none, everybody, never, always, no one, nothing, nowhere, everywhere and 16 more...
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Broken Hearts and Krazy Glue
The process of a finding your broken heart and gluing it back together.
goodbye, never, chance, change, new, tranformation, thoughts, peaceful, love, someone, consideration, afresh and 6 more...
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Humanity
bodies, organs, jar, soul, oblivion, annihilate, heart, warfare, people, work, endless, meek and 9 more...
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Answers
Life is full of tests and challenges--with our busy schedules, it can be hard to find the time to study. Are you a student bombarded by a pop quiz? A witness testifying about that industrial accide...
true, false, All of the above., None of the above., D, C, B, A, 42, Not to my recolle..., children's laughter, a dentist's drill and 23 more...
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