See Also: ailing(dictionary)

neither (iou) and ailing (oh)


neither (iou)



neither adverb, conjunction, pronoun, & adjective (in mod. usage also classed as a determiner).

A. adverb & conjunction.
Followed by coordinate nor, or, neither, introducing the first of two or more alternatives or different things: not either, not on the one hand. OE.
neither here nor there: see HERE adverb. neither more nor less than: see MORE adjective etc..
J. Hervey Neither care disturbs their sleep, nor passion inflames their breast. Southey No respite neither by day nor night for this devoted city. G. W. Dasent Wasn't it true that he neither knew anything or could do anything? J. Ruskin Neither painting nor fighting feed men. M. Keane Jessica felt neither very well nor very kindly disposed towards Jane. A. Judd He had neither the desire nor the time to rework old ground.
And not either, nor yet, nor moreover, and not, also not. Now only introducing a clause or sentence with inversion of subject and verb. LME.
J. Strype Neither did he..ever endeavour for it.
Strengthening a preceding negative (explicit or, formerly, implicit): any more than the Other, likewise not. Cf. EITHER adverb & conjunction 5. M16.
G. Meredith Lady Edbury would never see Roy-Richmond after that, nor the old lord neither. R. Busby 'Can you place either of them?' The young detective shook his head. 'Me neither'.
b. Introducing a reiteration (with pronouns and pro-forms of verbs) of a previous negative statement: indeed not, it is true that..not. colloq. E20.
L. M. Montgomery 'Davy declares he never saw her since I left.' 'Neither I did,' avowed Davy.
b. pronoun. Not either; not any one (of more than two). (Foll. by of: with sing. & (colloq.) pl. concord.) OE.
W. R. Grove Heat, light, electricity, magnetism..are all correlatives..neither, taken abstractedly, can be said to be the essential cause of the others. J. Ruskin What at present I believe neither of us know. P. Kavanagh They were both more than twenty-seven..yet neither had..kissed a girl. E. Baker 'Would you save him or your manuscript?' 'Neither,' said Shillitoe. E. Longford Two clumsy attempts to heal the breach, neither of which succeeded. M. Roberts Neither of the two men makes a move.
C. adjective. Not the one or the Other, not either. LME.
J. J. Hennessy Neither side had made any effort to contact the Other.

ailing (oh)



an ailing company, organization, or economy is having a lot of problems and is not successful
::the ailing car industry
formal ill and not likely to get better