to get sb’s attention before changing the subject or asking them to do sth       51

^ A ft 1c ) ^ ,         , »§: Now, listen to what she’s

saying. nj|, n/r oft T^ff £> „ 0 Now, the next point is quite complex, if ft M, T—A # M & e o Now come and sit down, ng,        0 Now let me think ...

n,S , it ^ ^ S - • rnrnn (every) now and again/then from time to time; occasionally ftf; fp| X;      # :

Every now and again she checked to see if he was still asleep. MPi—now for sb/ sth used when turning to a fresh activity or subject (  ) : And now for some travel news.

.now, 'now (also ,now 'then) used to show in a mild way that you do not approve of sth (      Jit,   Now then, that’s

enough noise, jtf n$,     7 <, now ,.. now ... at one

time ... at another time ... ••• W“M•••: Her moods

kept changing—now happy, now sad.

XaE WfflXX#, Wtlfto (it’s) ,now or never

this is the only opportunity sb will have to do sth rJA;. A SAJI 'now then 1 = now, now 2 used when making a suggestion or an offer ( $1 ih

) #H, D/r«: Now then, who wants to come for a walk? u§, it JI ttj A B 'now what? (informal) 1 (also what is it now?) used when you are annoyed because sb is always asking questions or interrupting you (      ) X&'aT:

‘Yes, but Dad ... ’ ‘Now what?’ “Jl, nj HH% v “XAf 7 ?: f 2 used to say that you do not know what to do next in a particular situation (

mconj. ~ (that) ... because the thing mentioned is happening or has just happened BX ^; & 7: Now that the kids have left home we’ve got a lot of extra space.

nowadays /'nauodeiz/ adv. at the present time, in contrast with the past M &; MTE; @ m : Nowadays most kids prefer watching TV to reading. iffiftAXffr-FAX

no-where o* /'nauwea(r); NAmE 'nouwer/ (also 'no place especially in NAmT) adv.

not in or to any place A&t; iPMiflX: This animal is found in Australia, and nowhere else.

A^'JJIE,      0 There was nowhere for me to sit.

0 ‘Where are you going this weekend?’ ‘Nowhere special.’        fUl?n

J& fj rT A o O Nowhere is the effect of government policy more apparent than in agriculture.

IEIBI get/go 'nowhere | get sb nowhere to make no progress or have no success; to allow sb to do this ( A )       We discussed it

all morning but got nowhere.    —±7,

O Talking to him will get you nowhere. fnftki&iSnowhere to be 'found/'seen | nowhere in 'sight impossible for anyone to find or see X^ia^cf!] (      ) : The children were nowhere

to be seen.   X # X10 7 Cl ft ) L „ 0 A peace settle­

ment is nowhere in sight (= is not likely in the near future). |*j;f          — more at lead1

V., MIDDLE n., NEAR adv.

, no-'win adj. [only before noun] (of a situation, policy, etc. IfJfX tik'fiW) that will end badly whatever you decide to do A®Cfif; fcMMST.(ft: We are considering the

options available to us in this no-win situation. fti^ft^X

' now-now adv. (SAfrE, informaf) 1 within a short period of time — ^JL; 'AM: I’ll be with you now-now.

± jpJc A o 2 a short time ago K'J W\ ; ® A : She left now-now.

nowt /naut/ pron. (BrE, dialect, informal) nothing ft; & ft ft A: There’s nowt wrong with it. j&f#ft A It 0

nox ious /'nnkjas; NAmE 'na:k-/ adj. (formal) poisonous or harmful WH tfJ; ft® : noxious fumes ft # JS #

noz zle /'nnzl; NAmE 'naizl/ noun a narrow piece that is attached to the end of a pipe or tube to direct the stream of liquid, air or gas passing through Hf p; uftM

| 1365

nr abbr. (BrE) near (used, for example, in the address of a small village) Hifir ( (fti&JUift ) : Howden,

nrGooleMi&^^mm

NRA /,en a:(r) 'ei/ abbr. National Rifle Association (a US organization that supports the right of citizens to own a gun) (-HI )

urn)

NRI /,en a:r 'ai/ abbr. (IndE) Non-Resident Indian (a person of Indian origin who is working somewhere else but who keeps links with India) X #ft£pjt:A ( XJgrft

ns abbr. nanosecond(s) #

NST /,en es 'ti:/ abbr. (CanE) Newfoundland Standard Time

NSU /,en es 'ju:/ abbr. non-specific urethritis nth /en0/ adj. (informal) [only before noun] used when you are stating that sth is the last in a long series and emphasizing how often sth has happened (          EL A: ft

f&n&ift: It’s the

nth time I’ve explained it to you.

IETTCI to the nth 'degree extremely; to an extreme degree     $A©Jf±

NTSC/ ,en ti: es 'si:/ noun [U] (technical A ©) a television broadcasting system that is used in N America and Japan * NTSC frJA, ( dfcUtt

H       ) — compare PAL, SECAM

nu /nju:/ noun the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet (N, V) 13 A7#

nu ance /'nju:a:ns; NAmE 'nu:-/ noun [C, u] a very slight difference in meaning, sound, colour or sb’s feelings that is not usually very obvious (MX. Mfe,

) if if: He watched her face intently to catch every nuance of expression, life iA Effe ATI

m,

nub /nAb/ noun [sing.] the - (of sth) the central or essen­tial point of a situation, problem, etc.  ^

M~: The nub of the matter is that business is declining.

nu bile /'nju:bail; NAmE 'nu:-; 'nu:bl/ adj. (of a girl or young woman          sexually attractive

W; $AW

Nu-buck /'nju:bAk; NAmE 'nu:-/ noun [U] a type of leather that has been rubbed on one side to make it feel soft like suede    )

nil-dear o-w /'nju:klia(r); NAmE 'nu:-/ adj. [usually before noun]

1 using, producing or resulting from nuclear energy W.7fb$J; ^ tiidtfj: a nuclear power station &  0 the

nuclear industry 7 X ik 0 nuclear-powered sub­marines   2 connected with weapons that use

nuclear energy    : a nuclear weapon/bomb/

missile         ||#oa nuclear explosion/

attack/war  / -A® / (AT- O the country’s nuclear

capability (= the fact that it has nuclear weapons) JI 0 nuclear capacity (= the number of nuclear weapons a country has)         3 (physics #j) of

the nucleus (= central part) of an atom        lit7

: nuclear particles itf oa nuclear reaction &

.nuclear 'energy (also .nuclear 'power) noun [u] a powerful form of energy produced by converting matter into energy splitting the nuclei (= central parts) of atoms. It is used to produce electricity,

.nuclear 'family noun (technical Ain) a family that consists of father, mother and children, when it is thought of as a unit in society     /bMM ( RfS

) — compare extended family .nuclear 'fission noun [u] = fission(I) .nudear-'free adj. [usually before noun] (of a country or a region ® itk LX) not having or allowing nuclear energy, weapons or materials fih&tfi : a nuclear-free zoneft&M.