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 NECTAR, subs. (common).—Drink; LAP (q.v.).

NED, subs. (old).—A guinea: America a 10 dollar piece. Half a ned = half a guinea or 5 dollar piece. Also neddy. See Canary.

1754. Discoveries of John Poulter, 41. They ask change for a ned or six.

1789. Parker, Life's Painter, 'The Happy Pair.' With spunk let's post our NEDDIES.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Half a ned. A 5 dollar gold piece.

1882. McCabe, New York, xxxiv., 509, s.v.

2. See Neddy.

NEDASH, phr. (old).—See quot., 1823.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.

1823. Grose, Vulg. Tongue [Egan], s.v. Nedash, of no use. Ibid. Nothing.

NEDDY, subs. (colloquial).—1. An ass; a moke (q.v). Also Ned: see Moke.

1658. Rowley, Tourneur, etc., Witch of Edmonton [Southey's Commonplace Book, ii., 447]. The ass was called Tom, as well as Jack and Neddy.

1790. Wolcot [P. Pindar], Rowland for an Oliver [Wks. (Dublin, 1794), ii., 412.] But, Peter, thou art mounted on a Neddy: Or, in the London phrase—thou Dev'nshire Monkey, Thy Tegasus is nothing but a Donkey.

1818. Egan, Boxiana, 1., 35. Coster' mongers, in droves, were seen mounting their neddies.

2. (colloquial).—A fool; a DONKEY (q.v.). See BUFFLE and Cabbage-head.

1823. Bee, Diet. Turf s.v. Neddy—sometimes Ass-neger, other names for jackass—the living emblem of patience and long suffering.

1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, i. All types of all characters march through all fables; tremblers and boasters; victims and bullies; dupes and knaves; long-eared neddies, giving themselves leonine airs.

3. (Irish)—A large quantity; plenty. Fr. hugrement; la foultitude (subs.); and gourdement.

4. (thieves').—See quots. Fr. un tourne-clef.

English synonyms. Billy; cosh; colt.

1864. Cornhill Mag., vi., 647. Pistols are seldom carried by them; the weapon is generally a neddy or life-preserver.

1879. J. W. Horsley [Macm. Mag., xl., 503]. He said, We shall want the stick (iron-bar), and bring a neddie (life-preserver) with you.

1884. Referee, 21 Dec, 1, 2. If husbands left off kicking their wives to death and if the neddy and knuckle-duster went suddenly out of fashion.

1897. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Neddy. A life-preserver; so called from one Kennedy, whose head was broken in St. Giles's by a poker.

5. See Ned.

NED-FOOL, subs. (old).—A noisy idiot. See Jack (subs., sense 8).

1600. Nashe, Summer's Last Will [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), viii., 61]. Ned fool's clothes are perfumed with the beer he poured on me.

NED STOKES, subs. (old provincial). See quot.

1791. Gent. Mag., lxi., 141. The Queen of Clubs is here [Lincs.] called Queen Bess the Four of Spades, Ned Stokes, for why I don't know.

NEEDFUL (THE), subs. (common).—Money. See Rhino.

1771. Foote, Maid of Bath, ii. Then I will straight set about getting THE NEEDFUL.

1821. Egan, Life in London, 1., iv. The diamond necklace did not operate more strongly than the poor woman's flat-iron to raise the needful.

1836. Comic Almanack, 45, 'Transfer day.' Needy men the needful need.