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never

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English numbers (edit)
0 1  → [a], [b] 10  → 
    Cardinal: zero
    Ordinal: zeroth
    Abbreviated ordinal: 0th
    Adverbial: never

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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    From Middle English nevere, navere, nævere, from Old English nǣfre (“never”), equivalent to ne +‎ ever.

    Pronunciation

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    Adverb

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    never (not comparable)

    1. At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:never
      I finally finished, and I never do wanna do it again.
      We were at the same college, but happened never to meet.
      I'll never not like you.
    2. Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously.
    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!
      • 1905, E. W. Horning, A Thief in the Night:
        "You're never going to break in?"
        "This instant, if you'll, help me; in five or ten minutes, if you won't."
      • 1976, “C.B. Savage”, performed by Rod Hart:
        Well I looked at Jay and I said "hey, did you hear what I just heard?"
        He nodded his head and his face turned red and he never said a word

    Antonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    • → Dutch: never nooit

    Translations

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    Verb

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    never

    1. (Manglish, Singlish, auxiliary) Did not; didn't.
      Antonyms: (Singlish) got, ever
      • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 85:
        I told him to go to Woodlands to buy durian for me. He came back and said no durian. But he some more said-ah, he got see people selling durian in Bukit Timah. I ask him-ah. Why you never buy from Bukit Timah.
      • 2018, Jean Tay, Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Scene 12, page 73:
        That's what he said. But I never see anything. Maybe it's an invisible dog. Or very good at hiding.

    Interjection

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    never

    1. A statement of defiance
      ‘Guess what, I've won the pools!’ ‘Never!’

    Derived terms

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    Anagrams

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    Latvian

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    Verb

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    never

    1. inflection of nevērt:
      1. second/third-person singular present indicative
      2. third-person plural present indicative
      3. second-person singular imperative
    2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of nevērt
    3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of nevērt

    Norwegian Bokmål

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    Etymology 1

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    From Old Norse næfr.

    Noun

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    never f or m (definite singular neveren or nevra, indefinite plural nevrer or nevre, definite plural nevrene)

    1. birchbark

    Etymology 2

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    Noun

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    never m

    1. indefinite plural of neve

    References

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    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Inherited from Old Norse næfr. Compare Swedish näver.

    Noun

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    never f (definite singular nevra, indefinite plural nevrar or nevrer, definite plural nevrane or nevrene)

    1. birchbark

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    References

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    Romansh

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    Verb

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    never

    1. (Sutsilvan) alternative form of naiver (“to snow”)
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