neatlyadv.

1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus ii. iii. sig. Liiii Netely or cleane, fynely spoken.

1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. ii. iii. sig. Biv^v Ah flattering Queene, how neatly she can talke.

1585 J. Stell in T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie Ep. Ded. In a matter nothing doubtfull to vse needlesse proofes, as Tullie neatly saith.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 54 Simonides expounded this point somewhat neatlier.

1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 10 How neatly Sir Theodore Mayhern delivers his Observation of this Animal.

1755 J. Hervey Theron & Aspasio II. xii. 222 (note) We choose to follow the popular Opinion, so neatly described by the Poet.

1796 Anecdotes, Hist. & Literary 325 Is not the conduct of the widows of the present day neatly described by this quotation?

1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxi. 318 Mr. Towlinson has proposed the happy pair; to which the silver-headed butler has responded neatly, and with emotion.

1884 Manch. Examiner 24 Nov. 6/1 It may be doubted whether a ticklish point was ever put more neatly.

1936 Amer. Speech 11 40 Nervous pudding, Shivering Liz, or Shimmy for jello..describe neatly.

1977 Undercurrents June 8/2 A comparison of fast breeder reactor technology with photo-voltaic (solar cell) technology neatly illustrates the two poles of opinion.

1991 J. Brewer & K. Magee Inside R.U.C. (BNC) 116 This remark neatly summarizes the paradox of neighbourhood policing in areas like West Belfast.

a1547 J. Redford Wit & Sci. (1951) 3 I thanke god I am of that nature able to compas thys matter sure as ye shall see now who lyst to marke [yt] ho[w] neately &..feately I shall warke yt.

1587 A. Day tr. Longus Daphnis & Chloe i. sig. B And when the most hardie of hys yong kids, and tender goats had mounted to the top of some hie or steepe rocke, neatlye would likewise Chloe applie her selfe to make them drawe downe the same with easie pace againe.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 252 To haue a boy..neatly placed behind him vnder his large robes.

1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 341 Averring, that he onely counterfeited a face of modesty, the more neatly to hide the cruelty of his heart.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 88 A notable Skirmish..wherein they were neatly intrapp'd.

a1791 F. Hopkinson Misc. Ess. & Occas. Writings (1792) III. 5 Neatly trip the merry dance, And lightly touch and swiftly glance.

1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) II. ix. 35 The plan was neatly carried out.

1890 S. W. Baker Wild Beasts I. 131 You naturally wish to kill your animal neatly.

1948 ‘P. Woodruff’ Whatever Dies 126 An odious person who could be neatly floored by one skilful left to the chin.

1998 N.Y. Times 5 Apr. iii. 6/2 During the 1980's, makers of scientific and engineering computers..made great strides in building parallel computers, neatly circumventing fundamental physical limits that hampered computing speed.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 187 Yf their woorkemanship be neately, and equally wrought.

1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. 94^v And faceth and edgeth them neatly.

1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 75 They wear..pumps very neatly made.

1712 A. Pope Rape of Locke i, in Misc. Poems 358 Twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt.

1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 587 There closely braced And neatly fitted, it..binds the shoulders flat.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Peter Bell III vii, in Poet. Wks. (?1840) 245/2 A genteel drive..With sifted gravel neatly laid.

1860 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 61 My clothes folded neatly up.

1946 E. Bowen in Listener 3 Jan. 13/2 A second, dubious look at the pond showed him that its flotilla of very clean white ducks had been stuffed and neatly attached to floats.

1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 245 He comes to the performances looking smart in a new cambric coat and his white hair has been neatly cut.

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. f. 172^v Neither take we anie great care to be serued honourablie, neatelie [Fr. nettement], and reuerentlie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 151 I will neuer trust a man againe, for keeping his sword cleane, nor..wearing his apparrell neatly . View more context for this quotation

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. vi. 19 Seeing a young man very neatly dress'd.

1735 G. Berkeley Querist §60 Whether there be any instance of a state wherein the people, living neatly and plentifully, did not aspire to wealth?

1796 Daily Advertiser (N.Y.) 14 June 4/3 (advt.) He and his brother carry on every kind of business related to Architecture, copy neatly maps and charts, [etc.].

1881 H. James Portrait of Lady I. x. 108 She..wiped her pen, very neatly, upon an elegant little implement which she kept for the purpose.

1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out ix. 124 The angular young man..was neatly brushing the rims of his toe-nails into the fireplace.

1988 A. Ghosh Shadow Lines (1989) 31 She was a middle-aged woman..always very neatly dressed in the blouse and sari of her native Kandyan foothills.