NEUTER

neuter

(adjective) of grammatical gender; “‘it’ is the third-person singular neuter pronoun”

neuter, sexless

(adjective) having no or imperfectly developed or nonfunctional sex organs

neuter

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

alter, neuter, spay, castrate

(verb) remove the ovaries of; “Is your cat spayed?”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adjective

neuter (not generally comparable, comparative more neuter, superlative most neuter)

(now, uncommon) Neutral; on neither side; neither one thing nor another.

Synonyms: impartial, neutral

(grammar) Having a form which is not masculine nor feminine; or having a form which is not of common gender.

(grammar) Intransitive.

Synonym: intransitive

(biology) Sexless: having no or imperfectly developed sex organs.

(literary) Sexless, nonsexual.

Synonyms

• (biological): see sexless, genderless

Noun

neuter (plural neuters)

(biology) 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; especially, 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.

A person who takes no part in a contest; someone remaining neutral.

(grammar) The neuter gender.

(grammar) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words.

(grammar) An intransitive verb or state-of-being verb.

Verb

neuter (third-person singular simple present neuters, present participle neutering, simple past and past participle neutered)

To remove sex organs from an animal to prevent it from having offspring; to castrate or spay, particularly as applied to domestic animals.

To rid of sexuality.

To drastically reduce the effectiveness of something.

Synonyms

• castrate, desex, doctor, fix, spay

Anagrams

• retune, run tee, tenure, tureen, untree

Source: Wiktionary

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Neu"ter, a. Etym: [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] In all our undertakings God will be either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter. South.

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.

3. (Biol.)

Definition: Having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones; sexless. See Neuter, n., 3.

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. The world's no neuter; it will wound or save. Young.

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.

3. (Biol.)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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