1.
[syn: never, ne'er]
2. not at all; certainly not; not in any circumstances;
- Example: "never fear"
- Example: "bringing up children is never easy"
- Example: "that will never do"
- Example: "what is morally wrong can never be politically right"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Never \Nev"er\ (n[e^]v"[~e]r), adv. [AS. n[=ae]fre; ne not, no +
[=ae]fre ever.]
1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past,
present, or future. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Death still draws nearer, never seeming near.
--Pope.
[1913 Webster]
2. In no degree; not in the least; not.
[1913 Webster]
Whosoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his
eyes in another man's head, and yet see never the
worse. --South.
[1913 Webster]
And he answered him to never a word. --Matt. xxvii.
14.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Never is much used in composition with present
participles to form adjectives, as in never-ceasing,
never-dying, never-ending, never-fading, never-failing,
etc., retaining its usual signification.
[1913 Webster]
Never a deal, not a bit. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Never so, as never before; more than at any other time, or
in any other circumstances; especially; particularly; --
now often expressed or replaced by ever so.
Ask me never so much dower and gift. --Gen. xxxiv.
12.
A fear of battery, . . . though never so well
grounded, is no duress. --Blackstone.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
never
adv 1: not ever; at no time in the past or future; "I have never
been to China"; "I shall never forget this day"; "had
never seen a circus"; "never on Sunday"; "I will never
marry you!" [syn: never, ne'er] [ant: always,
e'er, ever]
2: not at all; certainly not; not in any circumstances; "never
fear"; "bringing up children is never easy"; "that will never
do"; "what is morally wrong can never be politically right"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
34 Moby Thesaurus words for "never":
God forbid, at no hand, at no time, au contraire, by no means,
far from it, in no case, in no respect, in no way, in no wise,
never on earth, nevermore, no matter what, nohow, not, not a bit,
not a jot, not a speck, not a whit, not an iota, not at all,
not ever, not much, not nearly, noway, noways, nowhere near,
nowise, on no account, on no condition, on no occasion,
quite the contrary, to the contrary, under no circumstances