Neuter

Neuter
Neuter Neu"ter, n. 1. A person who takes no part in a contest; one who is either indifferent to a cause or forbears to interfere; a neutral. [1913 Webster]

The world's no neuter; it will wound or save. --Young. [1913 Webster]

2. (Gram.) (a) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words. (b) An intransitive verb. [1913 Webster]

3. (Biol.) An organism, either vegetable or animal, which at its maturity has no generative organs, or but imperfectly developed ones, as a plant without stamens or pistils, as the garden Hydrangea; esp., one of the imperfectly developed females of certain social insects, as of the ant and the common honeybee, which perform the labors of the community, and are called workers. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Neuter — Neu ter, a. [L., fr. ne not + uter whether; akin to E. whether. See {No}, and {Whether}, and cf. {Neither}.] 1. Neither the one thing nor the other; on neither side; impartial; neutral. [Archaic] [1913 Webster] In all our undertakings God will be …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Neuter — is a Latin adjective meaning neither , and can refer to: Neutering, the sterilization of an animal The neuter grammatical gender See also Trap Neuter Return (TNR), an alternative to euthanasia for managing feral cat and dog populations This… …   Wikipedia

  • neuter — [no͞ot′ər, nyo͞ot′ər] adj. [ME neutre < MFr or L: MFr neutre < L neuter, neither < ne , not (see NO1) + uter, either] 1. Archaic taking neither side; neutral 2. Biol. a) having no sexual organ; asexual b) having undeveloped o …   English World dictionary

  • neuter — ► ADJECTIVE 1) Grammar (of a noun) not masculine, feminine, or common. 2) (of an animal) lacking developed sexual organs, or having had them removed. 3) (of a plant or flower) having neither functional pistils nor stamens. ► NOUN Grammar ▪ a… …   English terms dictionary

  • neuter — eu ter, v. t. To render incapable of sexual reproduction; to remove or alter the sexual organs so as to make infertile; to alter; to fix; to desex; in male animals, to {castrate}; in female animals, to {spay}. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • neuter — [v] remove sex organs alter, castrate, change, desexualize, doctor, dress, fix, geld, make barren, make impotent, make infertile, make sexless, mutilate, spay, sterilize, unsex; concepts 157,250 …   New thesaurus

  • neuter — 1. adjective /ˈnjuːtə,ˈnuːtɚ,ˈnjuːtɚ/ a) Neither the one thing nor the other; on neither side; impartial; neutral. In all our undertakings God will be either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter. b) Having a form belonging… …   Wiktionary

  • neuter — {{11}}neuter (adj.) late 14c., of grammatical gender, neither masculine nor feminine, from L. neuter of the neuter gender, lit. neither one nor the other, from ne not, no (see UN (Cf. un) ) + uter either (of two) (see WHETHER (Cf. whether)).… …   Etymology dictionary

  • neuter — I. adjective Etymology: Middle English neutre, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French neutre, from Latin neuter, literally, neither, from ne not + uter which of two more at no, whether Date: 14th century 1. a. of, relating to, or constituting… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • neuter — I UK [ˈnjuːtə(r)] / US [ˈnutər] verb [transitive] Word forms neuter : present tense I/you/we/they neuter he/she/it neuters present participle neutering past tense neutered past participle neutered 1) to perform an operation on an animal s sexual… …   English dictionary

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