English Words in Action, Group N

1. Descriptive of someone who is spry, brisk, or skillful: Henry showed how nimble he was during the football game when he was able to avoid all of the tacklers and make a touchdown.
2. Clever, proficient, or fast thinking: Marla was considered one of the most nimble-minded students in school because she almost always came up with good answers faster than the others. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. A condition of learning and expressing things easily and quickly: Karin was talented with imagination and a nimbleness of wit.
2. Quick and exact either in movement or thoughts: The nimbleness of Ray's mind calculated the answer before Carla could key the numbers into her calculator.

In an agile manner; with quickness, lightness, and ease: Melba ran nimbly up the stairs after she returned home from school.

1. A radiant light that appears in the form of a circle or halo around or over the head of a god, a demigod, a saint, or some other sacred person: In children’s versions of religious writings and illustrations, the angels are often depicted with a nimbus above each of their heads.
2. A rain cloud; especially, a low dark layer of clouds: When Mildred saw the nimbus in the sky one morning, she made sure that her children put on their raincoats and took their umbrellas with them when she took them to school. © ALL rights are reserved.

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An acronym for n(ot) i(n) m(y) b(ack) y(ard): When someone objects to having anything perceived as undesirable in his or her own neighborhood, but doesn't care if it is placed in another location, then that's nimby.

Descriptive of people or organizations that resist unwanted development; such as, manufacturing plants, prisons, power companies, or chemical companies in his or her own neighborhood or town: Although many British are overwhelmingly pro-wind, too many have a nimby attitude against putting any wind turbines in their areas.

A descriptive term for attitudes, people, or organizations that object to a variety of new construction activities close to them, but still advocate such improvements for other areas: The commentator wrote that we are living in a nimbyfying world where "idealism abounds" but with stronger self-centered concerns than for the greater good.

A term that expresses opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them: Local residents were accused of nimbyism when they tried to stop the new superstore development that was being planned for their neighborhood.

Some examples of nimbyisms include the following: tall buildings, chemical plants, industrial parks, military bases, wind turbines, desalination plants, landfills, incinerators, power plants, prisons, mobile telephone network masts, schools, nuclear waste dumps, landfill dump sites, wind farms, golf courses, housing developments and transportation improvement proposals (new roads, passenger and freight railways, highways, airports, seaports).

Conveying a word or term which is used at only one time for one particular reason: Gerard created a nonce word, "obliviated-progress", to describe his frustration at being caught in a traffic jam for hours.

A famous nonce word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, was used in a musical movie called "Mary Poppins".

1. At the present time or on one particular occasion, place, or application: There are many words which are used for the nonce and so they are not used for very long or may not even be repeated by others.

For the nonce, the girl's basketball team is called "The Warriors".

3. Etymology: from Middle English ones, or (for then) "once"; (for the) nones, "present time".

1. A medicine that is made by the person who is selling it, a quack remedy: A nostrum is a folk medicine, or popular cure, that is not tested; especially, one which is not normally used.
2. A scheme for producing wonderful results, a cure-all: Being in jail can be considered to be a nostrum, but the outcome can be questionable and might not bring about the desired effect! © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.