Nay
[neɪ] or [ne]
Definition
(noun.) a negative; 'the nays have it'.
(adv.) not this merely but also; not only so but; 'each of us is peculiar, nay, in a sense unique'.
Checker: Sheena--From WordNet
Definition
(adv.) No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. See Yes.
(adv.) Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase.
(n.) Denial; refusal.
(n.) a negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
(v. t. & i.) To refuse.
Checked by Joseph
Synonyms and Synonymous
ad. [1]. No.[2]. Not only so, but more; not this only, but also.
Inputed by Deborah
Definition
adv. no: not only so but: yet more: in point of fact.—n. a denial: a vote against.—n. Nay′ward (Shak.) tendency to denial: the negative side.
Checked by Eli
Examples
- Nay, he appeared so much otherwise, that his daughter's courage failed. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Nay, I am too old a tree to be transplanted. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Nay, pardon me, he replied; I have no right to command or reproach; but my life hangs on your departure and speedy return. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Nay, there are persons in Middlemarch to whom I could go; although they don't know much of me, they would believe me. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I attempted to gain time--nay, I did worse. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Nay, he replied, 'suppose' is not the word--I know it; but you will be found out, and by sheer force of argument you will never prevail. Plato. The Republic.
- Nay, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Nay, are they not wholly different? Plato. The Republic.
- Nay, say rather the feather-pated giddy madmen, said Waldemar, who must be toying with follies when such business was in hand. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Is it any wonder that its captains and commanders and officials, nay, even its clerks and common soldiers, came back to England loaded with spoils? H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Nay, that is but sensuality. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- His lordship has often watched my sleep in the cold, for half, nay sometimes, during the whole of the night, sitting by my bedside. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Nay, put it down. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Nay, the very animals in a democratic State have a freedom which is unknown in other places. Plato. The Republic.
- Nay, Lavinia,' quoth Mrs Wilfer, 'this touches the blood of the family. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Edited by Elena