NATO
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
eg. The members of NATO are gathering for an important meeting next month in Brussels.
NB
- Nota Bene - Latin for take notice or note well
eg. Our teacher told us to memorize the information in our text that is marked NB.
No dice.
- No. Certainly not.
eg. No dice. I will never lend you that much money.
Not on your life.
- definitely not.
eg. "May I borrow your car"? "Not on your life".
nail down
- make certain, make sure
eg. I am trying to nail down the exact time that he will be able to meet with us.
name is mud
- a person`s reputation becomes bad, one is in trouble
eg. His name is mud now that he has been charged by the police with stealing money from his company.
name of the game
- the main part of a matter
eg. The name of the game is for the salesmen to sell cars and not to worry about other things.
name someone after
- give someone another`s name
eg. He was named after his mother`s grandfather.
narrow escape
- an escape with no chance of error
eg. He had a narrow escape when he almost fell from his bicycle.
near at hand
- easy to reach, nearby
eg. If there is a grocery store near at hand I will buy some milk.
neck and neck
- equal or nearly equal in a race or contest
eg. The two teams were neck and neck in the race to win the national championship.
neck of the woods
- an area or part of the country
eg. He has never been down to my neck of the woods since he was a child.
neck and neck
- equal or nearly equal in a race or contest, tied
eg. The two horses were running neck and neck until the end of the race.
needle in a haystack
- something that is very hard to find
eg. Looking for the lost receipt among the thousands of other receipts is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
neither fish nor fowl
- something that does not belong to a definite group
eg. I don`t know where we should put those books in the library. They are neither fish nor fowl.
neither here nor there
- not relevant to the thing being discussed, off the subject
eg. What you are saying is neither here nor there. We are talking about our plans to move this year - not 5 years in the future.
neither fish nor fowl
- something or someone that does not belong to a definite group
eg. I don`t know what you should call it. It is neither fish nor fowl.
nervous Nellie
- a timid person who lacks determination and courage
eg. He is a nervous Nellie and is afraid of most of the other students in the school.
nest egg
- money someone has saved up
eg. He has a nice nest egg in the bank so he will have no financial problems if he leaves his company.
never mind
- don`t worry, don`t bother
eg. If you don`t have time to pick up my laundry, never mind I will get it tomorrow.
new blood
- fresh energy or power, something or someone that gives new life or vigor to something
eg. She a great employee and helped us to inject new blood into our organization.
new broom sweeps clean
- a new person makes many changes
eg. We discovered the truth to the expression "a new broom sweeps clean" when our new boss changed everything in our organization.
new deal
- a complete change, a fresh start, another chance
eg. He was given a new deal by the team although the previous year he was not very good.
new one on me
- something surprising that one did not know before
eg. My friend's desire to go to London is a new one on me.
new person
- a person who has become very much better
eg. He is a new person now that he has quit smoking and quit drinking.
nick of time
- at the very last moment
eg. He was able to board the airplane just in the nick of time.
nine times out of ten
- almost always
eg. Nine times out of ten if you have a problem on the computer it is something small that can be easily fixed.
nine-day wonder
- someone/something who briefly attracts a lot of attention
eg. The man was a nine-day wonder but soon was forgotten by most of the people at his former company.
nine-to-five job/attitude
- a routine job in an office, attitude to life that reflects routine
eg. He has a nine-to-five attitude and is not doing very well as a salesperson in his company.
nip and tuck
- evenly matched, hard fought to the finish
eg. They were going along nip and tuck but he finally won the race in the end.
nip in the bud
- prevent at the start
eg. They found out about the computer problem but were able to nip the problem in the bud.
no bed of roses
- difficult or bad situation
eg. It is no bed of roses to have no job and a large family to support.
no cigar
- not agreed to, refused or useless, no, certainly not
eg. I almost got the job but in the end it was no cigar.
no deal
- not agreed to, refused or useless, no, certainly not
eg. It was no deal I realized as I left the meeting and the other members had all said no to my plan.
no doubt
- without doubt, surely, certainly
eg. No doubt he will be the one to win the contest again this year.
no end
- almost without stopping, continually
eg. The little girl cried no end when she couldn`t find her favorite doll.
no end to (of)
- so many or so much of, to seem almost endless, very many or very much
eg. He had no end of problems when he lived overseas for a year.
no go
- not agreed to, refused or useless, no, certainly not
eg. It`s no go for our plan to have three games this weekend. We can only have two of them.
no great shakes
- mediocre, unimportant
eg. The hotel was no great shakes and I wouldn`t recommend that you stay there if you go to Hawaii.
no love lost
- bad feelings, ill will
eg. There is no love lost between my father and our next door neighbor.
no matter
- regardless of
eg. No matter how hard that I try my tutor is never satisfied.
no picnic
- not pleasant, difficult
eg. It was no picnic trying to drive to the lake during the storm.
no sweat
- easily accomplished, uncomplicated
eg. The work was no sweat. I finished it in about two hours.
no wonder
- not surprising
eg. No wonder he is so tired after staying up all night.
nobody's home
- one`s attention is somewhere else, having a simple mind
eg. It looks like nobody`s home, I thought as I tried to have a conversation with the strange man.
nobody`s fool
- a smart person, a person who can take care of himself
eg. She is nobody`s fool. You will not have to worry about her at all when she goes to New York.
nose around (about)
- look for something kept private or secret, pry
eg. The secretary was nosing around in her boss's desk trying to discover what was going on.
nose down
- head down, bring down the nose of
eg. The pilot began to nose down the plane as it neared the airport.
nose about/around
- look for something private or secret, explore, pry
eg. The reporters spend a lot of time nosing around in the business of famous people.
not a leg to stand on
- no good proof or excuse, no good evidence or defence to offer someone
eg. The company doesn`t have a leg to stand on if they try to refuse to pay you the money that they owe you.
not for the world
- not at any price, not for anything
eg. I wouldn`t go out on a date with that woman for the world.
not give someone the time of day
- dislike someone so strongly that you totally ignore them
eg. I hate her and would never even give her the time of day.
not much of
- rather bad
eg. It`s not much of a hotel but I guess it will be okay for one night.
not so hot
- not very good
eg. I have been feeling not so hot lately as I had a cold last week.
not touch something with a ten-foot pole
- consider something completely undesirable or uninteresting
eg. That class may be alright but because I hate the professor I wouldn`t touch it with a ten-foot pole.
nothing doing
- I will not do it, certainly not, no indeed
eg. Nothing doing. I am not going to stay and work late again this evening.
nothing if not
- without doubt, certainly
eg. He is nothing if not punctual. He has never been late in his seven years with this company.
nothing to sneeze at
- something you should take seriously
eg. His new salary is nothing to sneeze at.
now and then
- occasionally
eg. He likes to go to that restaurant now and then.
no-show
- a person who makes a reservation for something and then neither comes nor cancels it
eg. There were several no-shows at the concert last night.
number one
- oneself, one`s own interests
eg. He is always looking out for number one and will never do anything for anyone else.
number-cruncher
- an accountant, someone who works with numbers
eg. Our president is a good number-cruncher and understands about the finances of our company.
number one (look after/take care of number one)
- oneself
eg. His atitude is to always look after number one without thinking about anybody else.
nurse a grudge
- keep a feeling of dislike toward some person
eg. My old girlfriend is still nursing a grudge toward me even after three years.
nuts about
- enthusiastic about something
eg. He has been nuts about cars ever since he was a little boy.
nutty as a fruitcake
- very crazy
eg. The woman who lives next door to us is as nutty as a fruitcake.
(have one`s) nose in something
- unwelcome interest in something, impolite curiosity
eg. He always has his nose in other people`s private business where it doesn`t belong.
Last Update: 2005/12/18