| 释义 |
▪ I. nice
obs. form of niche, niece.
▪ II. † nice, n. Obs. rare.
[f. next.]
A foolish or simple person; a fool.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14420 After Malgo, Carice þei ches, A nyce þat louede no pes. 1390Gower Conf. II. 285 That wol with ydel hand reclame His hauk, as many a nyce doth. c1430Hymns Virgin 42 Out of þe wey y wole him lede, And make of him boþe fool and nyce.
▪ III. nice, a.|naɪs|
Forms: 3–7 nyce, (4 nycy), 4–5 nys, 4–6 (8 Sc.) nyse, 4–6 nise, 5 neys, 6 niece, Sc. nyss, 7 nies, 9 dial. nist(e, nyst(e, 3– nice.
[a. OF. nice, niche (now only dial.) = Prov. nesci, Catal. neci, Sp., Pg. necio, Pg., It. nescio:—L. nescius: see nescious a.
The precise development of the very divergent senses which this word has acquired in English is not altogether clear. In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken.]
†1. Foolish, stupid, senseless. Obs. (Common in 14th and 15th c.)
a. Of persons.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 476/493 And bot ich þe [seide] hou heo heold mi lif, for-soþe ich were nice. c1350Will. Palerne 491 Now witterly ich am vn-wis & wonderliche nyce. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 23 He made þe lady so mad and so nyce þat sche worschipped hym as þe grettest prophete of God Almyȝty. c1450Lovelich Grail xlii. 73 They seiden he was a fool..and that they sien neuere so nise a man. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxix. 35 Quha that dois deidis of petie..Is haldin a fule, and that full nyce. c1557Abp. Parker Ps. xlix. 141 As well the wyse as mad and nyse to others leave theyr port.
b. Of actions, etc.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 323 Þyn askyng is nys, & as þou foly has frayst, fynde þe be-houes. 1390Gower Conf. III. 180 So is it bot a nyce Sinne Of gold to ben to covoitous. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 508 Cookes..þat provokethe þe peple..Þrouȝ nice excesse of such receytes of þe life to make an endynge. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxvi. 234 A nyce folysshe couenaunte ought nat to be holdin. 1560Rolland Crt. Venus i. 739 [Quha did] reheirs ane certane nyse Sermonis, [With argu]mentis, and diuers questionis.
†2. Wanton, loose-mannered; lascivious. Obs.
a. Of persons.
c1325Poem temp. Edw. II (Percy) 10 These nyse prestes That playeth her nyse game By nyȝt. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1285 Nyce she was, but she mente Noone harme ne slight in hir entente, But oonely lust & jolyte. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1473 Þou woldest han as wantonly þe gyed As doþ þe nycest of hem. c1430Hymns Virgin (1867) 53 Dampned soulis..Þat wolen not do weel, but euere be nyce. 1529Rastell Pastyme, Hist. Brit. (1811) 153 He..put out of his court all nyce and wanton people. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. 24 These are complements, these are humours, these betraie nice wenches that would be betraied without these.
absol.13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1359 Hit is not innoghe to þe nice al noȝty þink vse Bot if all þe worlde wyt his wykked dedes. 141426 Pol. Poems 60 God ȝeue ȝow grace..To cherische þe goode, and chastyse þe nys.
b. Of conduct, etc.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 236 We..telle ȝow oþer tales..of þer nyce ribaudie. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 67 Þo it was i-doo wiþ foule songes and gestes and iapes and nyse menstralcie. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxix, Gif thy lufe [be] sett alluterly Of nyce lust, thy trauail is in veyne. a1450Myrc 61 From nyse iapes and rybawdye Thow moste turne away þyn ye. 1529More Suppl. Soulys Wks. 306/2 These nice and wanton wordes doo not verye wel wyth vs. 1587Golding De Mornay Ep. Ded., Ouercome with nyce pleasures and fond vanities. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. xiii. 180 When mine houres Were nice and lucky, men did ransome liues Of me for iests.
†c. Of dress: Extravagant, flaunting. Obs.
c1430Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 205 Þou studiest aftir nyce aray, And makist greet cost in cloþing. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xiv. 9 So nyce array, so strange to thair abbay, Within this land was nevir hard nor sene. 1563Homilies ii. Idolatry iii. (1640) 72 An Image with a nice and wanton apparell and countenance.
†d. Very trim, elegant, or smart. Obs. rare.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 128 b/1 She chastysed them that were nyce and queynte, sayeng that suche nycete was fylthe of the sowle. a1500Mylner of Abynton in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 117 The wenche she was full proper and nyce; Amonge all other she bare great price. 1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) K ij, She shal not..use hir voyce to be feat and nice.
†3. Strange, rare, uncommon. Obs.
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxiv. 70, I merueyled nought soo moche of no thyng..as I doo now of this nyce syght. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxv. 41 Quhen I awoik, my dreme it was so nyce, Fra every wicht I hid it as a vyce. 1535Coverdale Ecclus. xliii. 27 For there by straunge wonderous workes, dyuerse maner of nyce beestes and whall fishes. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 143 Frome hens⁓forth we shal neyther enuye nor reuerence the nyse frutefulnes of Stoidum, Taprobana, or the redde sea.
†4.
a. Slothful, lazy, indolent. Obs. rare— 0.
c1440Promp. Parv. 355/2 Nyce, iners. 1604R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Nice, slow, lazie.
†b. Effeminate, unmanly. Obs. rare.
1573Baret Alv. s.v., Men thinke they wax nice and effeminate. 1598Florio, Paranimpha.., an effeminate, nice, milkesop, puling fellow. 1681R. L'Estrange Tully's Offices 64 Any thing that is Loose, Nice, and Effeminate.
†c. Not able to endure much; tender, delicate.
1562W. Bullein Bulwark, Sicke Men 56 Soche be the weake, feble, nise stomackes of many. 1648Markham's Housew. Gard. iii. x. (1668) 80 The Bee is tender and nice, and only lives in warm weather. a1674Clarendon in Life i. (1842) 927/2 He..was of so nice and tender a composition, that a little rain or wind would disorder him. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 26 But these are nice plants and are kept mostly under Glass's, ye aire being too rough for them.
†d. Over-refined, luxurious. Obs.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. ii. (1651) 145 We..spoile our childrens maners, by our overmuch cockering and nice education. 1720Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. II. xii. 221 All the Roman Youth that had..grown effeminate with nice Living, joined and favoured Catiline.
†5.
a. Coy, shy, (affectedly) modest, reserved. Obs.
14..Sir Beues (S) 3199 Maydens at her first Weddyng Wel nyse al þe first nyȝt. 15..Christ's Kirk 15 Thay wer sa nyss quhen men them nicht, Thay squelit lyke ony gaitis. 1592Kyd Sol. & Pers. i. ii, Then be not nice, Perseda, as women woont To hasty louers. 1634Milton Comus 139 Ere..The nice Morn on th' Indian steep From her cabin'd loop hole peep.
†b. Shy, reluctant, unwilling. Const. to, in, of, or with inf. Obs.
c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iv. 91 The nycest to ressave Vpoun the nynis will nip it. 16..Bryan in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 335 Straight bent to glorious deeds by kind, And to no braue acheiuements nice. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 40, I found the Italians nothing nice to shew their strong forts to me and to other strangers. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 58 She is the nicest creature in the world of suffering her perfections to be known. 1668A. Behn Oroonoko Wks. (1718) 55 They are extreme modest and bashful, very shy, and nice of being touch'd. 1676Dryden Aurengz. ii. i, Virtue is nice to take what's not her own.
†6. Phr. to make (it) nice, to display reserve or reluctance; to make a scruple. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 624, I make it coye, or nyce as a daungerouse person doth, je fais lestrange. 1560Rolland Crt. Venus iii. 827 Raab and Ruth..War licht Ladeis, thocht ȝe it mak sa nice. 1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 138 And he that stands vpon a slipp'ry place, Makes nice of no vilde hold to stay him vp. 1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 16 Althogh they seeme to make nyce in praying for dead. 1637Rutherford Lett. lxxxi. (1862) I. 205 Christ..cometh in..without ceremonies, or making it nice, to make a poor ransomed one His own. 1677Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 168 They make not nice to tell him that there is no possibility of salvation but in their way.
7. a. Fastidious, dainty, difficult to please, esp. in respect of food or cleanliness; also in good sense, refined, having refined tastes.
1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (1895) 149 Anothere ys of so nyce and soo delycate a mynde that he settethe nothynge by yt. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 191 The slouen and the careless man, the roinish nothing nice. 1600Dekker Fortunatus Prol., Your nice soules, cloyd with dilicious sounds, Will loath her lowly notes. a1656Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 3 Nice ears are all for variety of Doctrines, as palates of meats. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 99 He is not so nice as his Superiors, whom nothing will go down with, under right Nantz or Rum. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 104 ⁋9 The mind..becomes..nice and fastidious, and like a vitiated palate. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1047 It is better, as fattening animals are very nice, to let them have rather too little than too much. 1836C. Shaw in Mem. (1837) II. 593, I can eat anything, and am not very nice about the cleanliness. 1856Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1879) II. 318 Neither is it at all nice as to what it clutches, in its necessity for support.
Phrases.1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 223, I knewe a Priest as nice as a Nonnes Henne. 1581Rich Farew. (1846) 139 More nice than wise. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. i. ii. (1712) 11 Suppose..the other more nice than wise should reply, Nay, it may possibly be otherwise. 1782Cowper Mut. Forbearance 20 Some people are more nice than wise.
b. Particular, precise, strict, careful, in regard to some special thing.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. ix. i. (1886) 135 Some are so nise, that they condemne generallie all sorts of diuinations. 1625Bacon Ess., Greatn. Kingd. (Arb.) 479 The Spartans were a nice People in Point of Naturalization. 1661Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 59 The Parliament is alwayes very nice and curious on this point. 1724Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 141, I find them very nice that no other..be admitted to this correspondence. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 107 He is extremely nice in selecting his malt and hops. 1861Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. viii. 99 Like the old Romans, never very nice in weighing how large a proportion of the people influenced the government.
†c. Fastidious in matters of literary taste. Obs.
1628Wither Brit. Rememb. Premonit. 5, I had rather twenty nice Criticks should censure mee. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 23 His judgement was so nice, that he could never frame any speech beforehand to please himself. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 286 Thus Critics, of less judgement than caprice, Curious not knowing, not exact but nice, Form short Ideas. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 735/2 Such digressions as these the nicest readers may endure, provided they are not too long.
d. Precise or strict in matters of reputation or conduct; punctilious, scrupulous, sensitive.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. vii. §43 So difficult a thing it is to play an after-Game of Reputation, in that nice and jealous profession. 1709Swift Advancem. Relig. Wks. 1755 II. i. 99 Women of tainted reputations find the same countenance..with those of the nicest virtue. 1784Cowper Task iii. 85 Men too were nice in honor in those days, And judg'd offenders well. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. v, I am not very nice myself about these matters. 1843Miall in Nonconf. III. 227 The Duke of Wellington said..‘Men who have nice notions about religion have no business to be soldiers’. 1887Baring-Gould Red Spider xvii, I should get it back again.., and not be too nice about the means.
e. Refined, cultured.
1603Daniel Def. Rhime H 2 b, Eloquence and gay wordes are..but the garnish of a nice time, the Ornaments that doe but decke the house of a State. a1792Burns Yon Wild Mossy Mountains iv, Of nice education but sma' is her share. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, As conversation awakened the nicer emotions of her mind, that threw such a captivating grace around her. 1818Shelley Julian 536 As we could guess From his nice habits and his gentleness. 1874Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 56 ‘Truce, I beg!’ Said Osric, with nice accent.
8. Requiring or involving great precision, accuracy, or minuteness.
1513Douglas æneis iii. iv. 138 Our fallowschip exerce palestrale play.., Nakit worsling and strougling at nyse poynt. 1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. D ij b, The pearle of the word, must not be weighed in those scales that men commonly vse to weigh their yron, it is a nicer work. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. ii. viii. (1675) 123 The Watch I use to measure the time with in nice Experiments. 1745A. Butler Lives Saints (1836) I. p. xlvi, The indagation is often a task both nice and laborious. 1776Adam Smith W.N. i. x. (1869) I. 108 A house carpenter seems to exercise rather a nicer and more ingenious trade than a mason. 1822J. Imison Sci. & Art I. 35 Those who are engaged in making nice philosophical experiments. 1840Penny Cycl. XVI. 209/2 For nice purposes the metal may be obtained in a state of purity by the following process.
9. a. Not obvious or readily apprehended; difficult to decide or settle; demanding close consideration or thought; † intricate.
1513Douglas æneis iii. Prol. 14 Nyce laborynth, quhar Mynotaur the bull Was kepit. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 19 The finer wit a man is of, the more he beateth it..about nice and intricate pointes. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. Sect. xiv. 51 The way to destruction is broad and plausible, the way to heaven nice and austere. 1689Popple tr. Locke's 1st Let. Toleration L.'s Wks. 1727 II. 233 Opinions..about nice and intricate Matters that exceed the Capacity of ordinary Understandings. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. I. 175 It was the work but of one day to examine and to resolve this nice problem. 1789Belsham Ess. I. vii. 134 It becomes a very nice and curious question indeed. 1847–9Helps Friends in C. (1851) I. 21 One of the nicest problems for a man to solve. 1885Manch. Exam. 3 June 5/1 Whether the agreement was actually violated is a question involving several nice points.
b. Minute, subtle; also of differences, slight, small.
1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. xii. 29 Nowe leauyng nice suttleties, lette us wey the matter it selfe. 1612T. James Corrupt. Scripture iv. 6 They seeme to mince and slice the matter into certaine nice and subtile distinctions. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. iii. §4 Without perplexing our minds about those more nice and subtile speculations. 1732Pope Ess. Man. i. 223 Twixt that, and reason, what a nice barrier, For ever sep'rate, yet for ever near. 1784Johnson Let. to Mr. Sastres 2 Sept., Your critick seems to me to be an exquisite Frenchman; his remarks are nice; they would at least have escaped me. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. i. §22 The generality of people can appreciate far nicer differences than these. 1870Howson Metaph. St. Paul ii. 41 When we desire to appreciate the nicer shades of meaning.
c. Precise, exact, fine.
1710Addison Whig Exam. No. 4 ⁋8 A very nice resemblance. 1746Hervey Medit. (1818) 127 You may observe..in its gently-bending tufts, the nicest symmetry. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xii. (1819) 197 A nicer accomodation to their respective conveniency. 1841Miall in Nonconf. I. 1 No words could describe with nicer accuracy the political movements of English dissenters. 1867Duke of Argyll Reign of Law ii. (ed. 4) 92 The nice and perfect balance which is maintained between these two forces.
†10.
a. Slender, thin. Obs. rare.
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 6 As Ladies wont, in pleasures wanton lap To finger the fine needle and nyce thread. 1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 15 That policie may either last so long, Or feede vpon such nice and waterish diet.
†b. Unimportant, trivial. Obs. rare.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. ii. 18 The Letter was not nice, but full of charge, Of deare import, and the neglecting it May do much danger. 1601― Jul. C. iv. iii. 8 In such a time as this, it is not meet That euery nice offence should beare his Comment.
11.
†a. Critical, doubtful, full of danger or uncertainty. Obs.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 48 To set so rich a mayne On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre, It were not good. 1608D. T[uvil] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 64 b, Vnderstanding on what nice tearms the life of the Blacke-Prince..did stande. 1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1711/4 We bless Propitious Heaven, which..has directed Your Majesty in these Nice and Critical times. 1710Wodrow Corr. (1843) I. 195 You know my itch after accounts of..the true state of things at this nice juncture.
b. Delicate, needing tactful handling.
1617Moryson Itin. iv. ii. iii. (1903) 184 A Treatise to be written of purpose, and with deliberation, vppon that nice Subiect. 1664J. Wilson Projectors v, Things of this nature are so nice, and kickish, the least Error renders them irretriveable. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 40, I hope you had Presence of Mind to do this,—For it was a nice Part to act. 1777Watson Philip II, iii. (1793) I. 129 For several years in the nicest political negociations.
12. a. Entering minutely into details; attentive, close.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xii[i]. (Arb.) 126 We imputed it to a nice and scholasticall curiositie in such makers. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 35 His company is like to be shunned, as of a nice observer of mens actions and manners. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 358 Some Peasants, not t' omit the nicest Care, Of the same Soil their Nursery prepare. 1738Pref. J. Keill's Anim. Œcon. 20 Nicer inquiries into the Structure of the Parts. 1789G. White Selbourne vi, Upon a nice examination..I could find nothing resinous in them. 1839Civil. Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 328/2 It fluctuates..perceptibly to a nice observer. 1864Bowen Logic xii. 397 The cases may be strictly parallel in every visible respect, as tested by the nicest observations.
b. Of the eye, ear, etc.: Able to distinguish or discriminate in a high degree.
a1586Sidney (J.), Such a man was Argalus, as hardly the nicest eye can find a spot in. 1755J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 142 A nice pallate in good liquor had made my landlord a favourite companion. 1795Wolcot (P. Pindar) Hair Powder Wks. 1812 III. 304 Dull though thy tympanum, her nicer ear Catches a thunder-growl from yonder sphere. 1847H. Miller Test. Rocks v. (1857) 209 Gifted..with a peculiarly nice eye for detecting those analogies. 1873Browning Red. Cott. Nt.-cap 273 The nice eye can distinguish grade and grade.
c. Of judgement, etc.: Finely discriminative.
1697Dryden Virg. Past. Pref., Wks. 1721 I. 82 Virgil..was of too nice a Judgement to introduce a God denying the Power and Providence of the Deity. 1742Shenstone Schoolmistr. 237 With nice discernment see Ye quench not, too, the sparks of nobler fires. 1785Crabbe Newspaper Wks. 1834 II. 126 We cannot call their morals pure, Their judgment nice, or their decisions sure. 1833H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. i. 16 No people on earth had so nice a sense of the morally graceful. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 297 His style is not above mediocrity, nor does he evince any nice sense of elegance and form.
d. Delicate or skilful in manipulation.
1711Addison Spect. No. 83 ⁋4 One Person at Work, who was exceeding slow in his Motions, and wonderfully nice in his Touches. 1764Reid Inquiry i. iii. 78 The nicest artist cannot make a feather or the leaf of a tree. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. xxxiv, Jobs that require both a nice hand and a contriving head.
13. a. Minutely or carefully accurate.
1599Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 75 Ile proue it on his body if he dare, Despight his nice fence, and his actiue practise. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 584 All at once thir Reeds Put forth, and to a narrow vent appli'd With nicest touch. 1699Bentley Phal. Pref. 93 The largest and nicest knowledge of the English Language, of any man living. 1769Sir J. Reynolds Disc. i. (1876) 309 That critical period of study, on the nice management of which their future turn of taste depends. 1805Collingwood in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1845) VII. 242 To pass them from the leeward..required nice steerage. 1849Longfellow Building of Ship 17 With nicest skill and art..a little model the Master wrought.
b. Of instruments or apparatus: Showing minute differences; finely poised or adjusted.
a1628F. Greville Wks. (1633) i. 54 To pease his deeds, by her nice weights and measure. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. 397 Imploying a nice pair of Gold Scales..I found that this Powder weigh'd somewhat..more than twice so much common Water. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v. Hygroscope, You will find this plain and simple Instrument, the nicest Hygrometer of any, for it will show you very small Alterations. 1771T. Percival Ess. (1776) III. 127 A watery dew..which being committed to a nice scale, may probably be found to be equal in gravity to a drop of rain. 1875Sears Serm. Chr. Life 29 Weigh arguments in the nicest intellectual scales.
14. Of food; Dainty, appetizing. spec. of a cup of tea.
1712Arbuthnot J. Bull iii. App. i, This was but a pretence to provide some nice bit for himself. a1766F. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph V. 193 We sent her up three or four plates of the nicest things that were at table. 1799Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 224 You must give us something very nice, for we are used to live well. 1852Rock Ch. of Fathers III. 103 A banquet which usually consisted of the nicest dishes then known. 1853A. Soyer Pantroph. 284 Some of these pastries would appear very nice to us in the present day. 1899R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. iv. 38 Her sex's universal restorative... ‘You shall have a nice cup of tea.’ 1928R. Knox Footsteps at Lock v. 41 You'd have got a nice cup of tea down at the Gudgeon. 1937A. P. Herbert Nice Cup of Tea (song), I like a nice cup of tea in the morning, For to start the day you see. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier v. 88 There is generally a cup of tea going—a ‘nice cup of tea’. 1961I. Fleming Thunderball iv. 38 The dimity world of the Nice-Cup-of-Tea. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story xxi. 221 ‘I'll pour him some tea,’ said Dawlish. ‘There's nothing so reviving as a nice cup of tea.’
absol.1793W. Roberts Looker-on No. 53 (1794) II. 287 To imitate our fashionable physicians in mixing up together..the nauseous and the nice.
15. a. Agreeable; that one derives pleasure or satisfaction from; delightful. nice girl (of an adult); freq. somewhat derisive.
In common use from the latter part of the 18th cent. as a general epithet of approval or commendation, the precise signification varying to some extent with the nature of the substantive qualified by it.
1769Miss Carter Lett. (1817) II. 34, I intend to dine with Mrs. Borgrave, and in the evening to take a nice walk. 1780Beckford Biog. Mem. Extr. Painters 110 A nice pocket edition. 1796Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 126 You scold me so much in the nice long letter which I have..received from you. 1837Maj. Richardson Brit. Legion ix. (ed. 2) 220 The Commandant, whom I subsequently found to be a very nice fellow. 1860Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life (1879) II. v. 270 Lilies of the valley, and I know not what nice things. 1876C. M. Yonge Womankind xvi. 126 Though a well managed, innocent and select rink is quite possible, ‘nice’ girls would do well to abstain from those where a chance public shares the sport. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 654 How nice it must be to be able to get about in cars, omnibuses and railway trains again! 1901W. D. Howells Heroines of Fiction I. 12 They imagined the heroine who was after all a Nice Girl; who still remains the ideal of our fiction. 1905E. Wharton House of Mirth i. xiv. 239 He had never wanted to marry a ‘nice’ girl: the adjective connoting..certain utilitarian qualities..apt to preclude the luxury of charm. 1910National Police Gaz. 16 July 3/1 That's what tells and it pulls the nice girls down with a sudden rush that takes their breath away. 1933E. O'Neill Ah, Wilderness! (1934) iii. i. 89 You're a darned nice girl. 1938N. Marsh Artists in Crime viii. 108 She tries to talk ‘Slade’..but the original nice-girl gush oozes out. 1968–70Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III–IV. 86 Nice Girl, a sexually permissive girl. 1975I. S. Black Man on Bridge ii. 26 ‘She's pretty.’.. ‘More than that, she looked what used to be called a nice girl.’
Phr.1796M. Robinson Angelina I. 44 The parson's daughters are as nice as my nail and as clean as a penny! 1839Dickens Let. 5 Mar. (1965) I. 521 A capital bed, and all as nice as nice could be. 1937G. & I. Gershwin Nice Work if you can get It (song), Holding hands at mid-night 'Neath a starry sky, Nice work if you can get it, And you can get it if you try. 1938Sun (Baltimore) 20 June 8/2 Ruth said, ‘Nice going, kid,’ and that simple compliment pleased the young Cincinnati pitcher more than all of the other praises he received. 1954R. P. Bissell High Water xxiii. 279 ‘Nice going, George,’ I said. 1958Listener 2 Oct. 492/1 The Frenchman..may well reply with impatience: ‘Nice work if you can get it.’
b. to look nice, to have an agreeable, attractive, or pretty appearance.
1793Minstrel II. 182 She was desirous of looking as nice as possible. 1836Going to Service xii. 139 O, you look so nice,..any body would take you for an experienced servant. 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. xii. 255 Cuthbert liked her to look nice.
c. Kind, considerate, or pleasant (to others).
1830Moore Mem. (1854) VI. 152 She has, in the nicest and most delicate way, procured them. 1872T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree v. i, ‘Not nice of Master Enoch’, said Dick. 1887I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 165 When I say Van was good, I mean he was nice to me.
d. In ironical use. Also nice and.
1836Dickens Let. 29 Dec. (1965) I. 217, I have been clearing off all the rejected articles to-day, and nice work I have had. 1846D. Jerrold Mrs. Caudle ii, You'll be nice and ill in the morning. 1851― St. Giles viii, A nice job I've had to nibble him. 1892I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. i. xi. 248 Well, you're a nice friend of his, I must say. 1896E. Turner Little Larrikin xviii. 209 Aren't you going to stop and see Clem off?..you are a nice one. 1939L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside v, S'posin' he et a lot of the little green apples..and got nice and sick?
16. As adv. Nicely. rare.
1540J. Heywood Four P.P. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 351 But prick them and pin them as nice as ye will. c1557Abp. Parker Ps. cxix. 345 Curst be they all, from thy good love who wander wyll to nyse. a1756Eliza Heywood New Present (1771) 53 Take a fine piece of sturgeon, wash and clean it very nice.
17. Comb. as nice-conscienced, nice-eared, nice-fingered, etc.; nice-becoming, nice-looking, nice-spoken; nice-discerning, nice-judging; nice-driven, nice-preserved, nice-spun.
a1727Pattison Crt. Venus in Prior's Poems (1733) III. 106 Full in the midst, with *nice-becoming Grace, Stood Youth.
1642–4Vicars God in Mount 18 These squemish and *nice-conscienced fellows.
1776‘Joel Collier’ (J. L. Bicknell) Mus. Trav. (ed. 4) App. 26 Should his lordship's *nice-discerning eye perceive any Jacobitical expressions in his works.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 39 That politike and *nice-driven negotiation of the peace betwixt England and Spaine.
a1843Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. Ser. ii. (1849) 33 The chilling fastidiousness of some *nice-eared critics.
1784Cowper Task i. 202 One..whose notes *Nice⁓fingr'd Art must emulate in vain.
1818Jamieson Burt's Lett. N. Scotl. I. 322 It sets ye weel to be sae *nice-gabbit.
1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xxii. 2 He was not so *nyce⁓harted as to make a cruell yelping out for some comon harme. 1583― Calvin on Deut. cxxxi. 806 Because y⊇ people were ouertender and nyceharted, they had need of helpe.
1728–46Thomson Spring 407 There throw, *nice⁓judging, the delusive fly.
1807Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 328 She is a *nice-looking woman. 1838Dickens O. Twist xiv, He is a nice-looking boy, is he not? 1882J. Hawthorne Fort. Fool i. xv, A portrait of a very nice-looking young lady.
1869R. Broughton Not Wisely 11 Miss Chester was gifted with that sort of *nice-lookingness.
1618N. Field Amends for Ladies iii. iii. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 132 A pox of these *nice-mouthed creatures!
1683Tryon Way to Health 225 Foolish *Nice-pallated People and Gluttons.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 135 We will enjoy That *nice-preserued honesty of yours.
1777Potter æschylus (1779) II. 88 This stranger seems, like the *nice⁓scented hound, Quick in the trace of blood.
1799Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 209 We have two very *nice-sized rooms.
1863Sala in Temple Bar VIII. 73, I suppose there is nothing immodest (even in this wonderfully *nice spoken age) in confessing [etc.].
1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 533 A few *nice-spun and chimerical speculations.
1815Milman Fazio (1821) 17 Death's not *nice-stomach'd, to be cramm'd With such unsavoury offal. |