Neat, a. [Compar. Neater; superl. Neatest.]
Etymology: [OE. nett, F. nett, fr. L. nitidus, fr. nitere to shine. Cf. Nitid, Net, a., Natty.]
1. Free from that which soils, defiles, or disorders; clean; cleanly; tidy. If you were to see her, you would wonder what poor body it was that was so surprisingly neat and clean. Law.
2. Free from what is unbecoming, inappropriate, or tawdry; simple and becoming; pleasing with simplicity; tasteful; chaste; as, a neat style; a neat dress.
3. Free from admixture or adulteration; good of its kind; as, neat brandy. "Our old wine neat." Chapman.
4. Excellent in character, skill, or performance, etc.; nice; finished; adroit; as, a neat design; a neat thief.
5 more senses
5. With all deductions or allowances made; net.
Note: [In this sense usually written net. See Net, a., 3.] neat line (Civil Engin.), a line to which work is to be built or formed. -- Neat work, work built or formed to neat lines.
Syn. -- Nice; pure; cleanly; tidy; trim; spruce.
'NEATH 'Neath ( or , prep. & adv.
An abbreviation of Beneath. [Poetic]
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Neat, n. sing. & pl.
(Zoöl.)
Cattle of the genus Bos, as distinguished from horses, sheep, and goats; an animal of the genus Bos; as, a neat's tongue; a neat's foot. Chaucer. Wherein the herds[men] were keeping of their neat. Spenser. The steer, the heifer, and the calf Are all called neat. Shak. A neat and a sheep of his own. Tusser. Neat's-foot, an oil obtained by boiling the feet of neat cattle. It is used to render leather soft and pliable.
Neat, a.
Of or pertaining to the genus Bos, or to cattle of that genus; as, neat cattle.
Shades of meaning
That which is clean is simply free from soil or defilement of any kind. Things are orderly when in due relation to other things; a room or desk is orderly when every article is in place; a person is orderly who habitually keeps things so. Tidy denotes that which conforms to propriety in general; an unlaced shoe may be perfectly clean, but is not tidy. Neat refers to that which is clean and tidy with nothing superfluous, conspicuous, or showy, as when we speak of plain but neat attire; the same idea of freedom from the superfluous appears in the phrases "a neat speech," "a neat turn," "a neat reply," etc. A clean cut has no ragged edges; a neat stroke just does what is intended. Nice is stronger than neat, implying value and beauty; a cheap, coarse dress may be perfectly neat, but would not be termed nice. Spruce is applied to the show and affectation of neatness with a touch of smartness, and is always a term of mild contempt; as, a spruce serving man. Trim denotes a certain shapely and elegant firmness, often with suppleness and grace; as, a trim suit; a trim figure. Prim applies to a precise, formal, affected nicety. Dapper is spruce with the suggestion of smallness and slightness; natty, a diminutive of neat, suggests minute elegance, with a tendency toward the exquisite; as, a dapper little fellow in a natty business suit.