never
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈnɛv.ə(ɹ)/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈnɛ.vɚ/, [ˈnɛvɚ̹]
Adverb

never (not comparable)

  1. At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
    • 1634, , John Fletcher, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Act 2, Scene 4,
      Why should I love this Gentleman? Tis odds / He never will affect me;
    • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XXI: A New Departure in Flavorings,
      "I never thought you were so fond of Mr. Phillips that you'd require two handkerchiefs to dry your tears just because he was going away," said Marilla.
    • 1919, B. G. Jefferis, J. L. Nichols, Searchlights on Health: Sensible Rules for the Nurse,
      Never speak of the symptoms of your patient in his presence, unless questioned by the doctor, whose orders you are always to obey implicitly.
    I finally finished, and I never want to do that again.
    I repeated the test a hundred times, and never saw a positive result.
    I will never tell.
  2. Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously.
    • 1601 November 30, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I's Farewell Speech,
      There is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel: I mean your love.
    • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 4,
      "He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!--so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"
    • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XIII: The Delights of Anticipation,
      I never saw such an infatuated man.
  3. (colloquial) Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely).
    The police say I stole the car, but I never did it.
    You said you were going to mow the lawn today. – I never!
    I never saw him today.
Antonyms Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary