neuter

Noun · Verb · Adjective

Synonyms: alter spay castrate sexless

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

a gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to inanimate objects (neither masculine nor feminine)

Verb (1)

remove the ovaries of“Is your cat spayed?”Synonyms: alter spay castrate

Adjective (2)

of grammatical gender“`it' is the third-person singular neuter pronoun”
having no or imperfectly developed or nonfunctional sex organsSynonyms: sexless

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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 either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter.— South.[1913 Webster]

2.(Gram.) (a) Having a form belonging more especially to words which are not appellations of males or females; expressing or designating that which is of neither sex; as, a neuter noun; a neuter termination; the neuter gender. (b) Intransitive; as, a neuter verb. [1913 Webster]

3.(Biol.) Having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones; sexless. See Neuter, n., 3. [1913 Webster]

neuter \neu"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]

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]