**nightshirt**  948
**night-shirt** /'nait-ʃɜ:rt/ *n* a piece of men's clothing like a long loose shirt, made to be worn in bed $\rightarrow$ compare NIGHTDRESS**'night soil** *n* [U] *euph* waste matter from the human bowels which is collected and used for growing crops
**night-stand** /'naitstænd/ also **'night ,table** *n AmE* a small table beside a bed**night-stick** /'nait,stɪk/ *n AmE* for TRUNCHEON
**night-time** /'nait-taim/ *n* [(the)U] the time when it is dark; NIGHT: *animals that hunt in the nighttime* $\rightarrow$ opposite DAYTIME**'night watch** *n* WATCH
**,night 'watchman** *n* **1** a man with the job of guarding a building at night **2** (in cricket) one of the less good batsmen (BATSMAN) in a team who is sent to BAT at the end of a day's play so that the better batsmen do not need to face the BOWLING until the next day**night-wear** /'naitwear/ *n* [U] clothes worn in bed at night
**nig-nog** /'nignɒg || -nɑ:g/ *n BrE, taboo derog* a black person (considered extremely offensive)
**ni-hil-is-m** /'naiəlɪzəm/ *n* [U] **1** the belief that nothing has meaning or value **2** the belief that social and political organization should be destroyed, even if nothing better can take its place **—ist** *n* **—istic** /ˌnaiɪ'lɪstɪk◂/ *adj***Ni·jin·sky, Vas·lav** /nɪ'dʒɪnski, 'vɑːtslaɪf/ (1890–1950) a Russian BALLET dancer who worked with the ballet producer DIAGHILEV and is regarded as one of the greatest male dancers ever**Nike** /'naɪk, 'naɪki/ *trademark* a US company that makes sports clothes and sports shoes. Nike products have a sign on them that looks like a large TICK$^1$, and the company's advertisements often use the phrase 'Just Do It!'**Nik·kei in·dex, the** /ˌnɪkeɪ 'ɪndeks/ also **the Nikkei**, **the ,Nikkei 'Average** a number that shows how well or badly SHAREs have performed on the Tokyo STOCK EXCHANGE on a particular day. The number is based on the share prices of about 200 important companies. $\rightarrow$ see also DOW JONES AVERAGE, FT 100 SHARE INDEX, HANG SENG INDEX**Nik·on** /'nɪkɒn||-ɑːn/ *trademark* a BRAND (=type) of camera made by the Japanese company Nikon
**nil** /nɪl/ *n* [U] nothing; zero: *The new machine reduced labour costs to almost nil. | (BrE) Our team won by four goals to nil.* $\rightarrow$ see ZERO (USAGE)**Nile, the** /naɪl/ a river in northeast Africa, the longest river in the world, whose water is used for most of the farming in Egypt and Sudan. It is formed from two rivers: the Blue Nile, which starts in Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which starts in Uganda. The two rivers join in Sudan, and flow north into the Mediterranean Sea. In Egypt, the Nile is popular with tourists, who sail up and down it on large boats, visiting places such as Cairo and KARNAK.**Ni·lot·ic** /naɪ'lɒtɪk||-l'ɑː-/ *adj* tech connected with the River Nile, the people living around it, or their languages
**Nil·sen, Den·nis** /'ni:lsən, 'denɪs/ (1945– ) a British man who murdered 15 young men between 1978 and 1983. Nilsen would meet men in PUBs, take them back to his home, kill them, and cut up their bodies.**nim·ble** /'nɪmbəl/ *adj* *apprec* **1** quick, light, and neat in movement; AGILE: *a nimble climber* **2** quick in thinking or understanding: *a nimble mind/imagination* **—bly** *adv* **—ness** *n* [U]**nim·bus** /'nɪmbəs/ *n pl.* **-buses** or **-bi** /baɪ/ **1** [U] a dark spreading cloud that may bring rain or snow $\rightarrow$ compare CIRRUS, CUMULUS **2** [C] a HALO**nim·by** /'nɪmbi/ *n* sometimes all caps. a person who does not want a particular building or activity to be carried out near their own house, but to be put somewhere else (from the first letters of the words 'not in my back yard') **—nimby** *adj*: *a nimby attitude* **—ism** *n***Ni·ña, the** /'ni:njə/ one of the three ships that sailed to America with Christopher Columbus in 1492. The other two were the Pinta and the Santa Maria.**nin·com·poop** /'nɪŋkəmpu:p/ *n old-fash infml* a stupid person; fool
**nine** /naɪn/ *determiner, n, pron* **1** (the number) 9 $\rightarrow$ see TABLE 1 **2 nine times out of ten** *infml* almost always $\rightarrow$ see also CLOUD NINE, dressed up to the nines (DRESS$^1$)**,nine days' 'wonder** *n* a thing or event that causes excitement for a short time and then is forgotten
**9/11** /ˌnaɪn ɪ'levən/ September 11, 2001, the day TERRORISTs HIJACKed four planes and used them to attack New York and Washington, DC. The terrorists flew two of the planes into the two towers of the World Trade Center and a third plane into the Pentagon. The towers and most of the World Trade Center were destroyed during the attack, and part of the Pentagon was destroyed by fire. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. It is believed that some of the passengers and CREW (=the people who were working on the plane) on this plane decided to try to stop the terrorists by fighting them, and that this caused the plane to crash. The plane was travelling towards Washington, D.C., probably to attack the Capitol building or the White House. Nearly three thousand people were killed in the attacks, including passengers and crew on the planes, people inside the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, police, FIREFIGHTERs, and the terrorists. The US government blamed the extreme Islamic group al-Qaeda for the attacks, and later that year it INVADED Afghanistan, where it believed many of al-Qaeda's leaders, including Osama bin Laden, were hiding.**9-'11 Com,mission** a US COMMISSION (=group of people who have been given the official job of finding out about something) set up by Congress to examine the actions taken by the US government before, during, and after the TERRORIST attacks in New York City and Washington on September 11, 2001. The Commission wanted to find out if the US government knew that an attack might take place and if the government was properly prepared for any attack. It also wanted to establish whether the government acted properly after the attack.**999** /ˌnaɪn naɪn 'naɪn/ the telephone number used in the UK for calling the police, fire, or AMBULANCE services in an EMERGENCY: *Quick, dial 999! | a 999 call***911** /ˌnaɪn wʌn 'wʌn/ the telephone number used in the US for calling the police, fire, or AMBULANCE services in an EMERGENCY
**nine·pins** /'naɪnpɪnz/ *n* [U] an early form of the game of BOWLING using nine instead of ten bottle-shaped objects (ninepins) **—ninepin** *adj* [A] *a ninepin alley* (=place for playing the game)**nine·teen** /ˌnaɪn'ti:n◂/ *determiner, n, pron* **1** (the number) 19 $\rightarrow$ see TABLE 1 **2 nineteen to the dozen** *infml* (speaking) quickly and continuously, never stopping: *They were chatting away nineteen to the dozen.* **—th** *determiner, n, pron, adv***,Nineteen ,Eighty-'Four** (1949) a novel by George ORWELL which describes an imaginary society of the future, where the government has complete control of everyone's lives, thoughts, and behaviour, and watches everything they do. The leader of this government is known as BIG BROTHER, and there are pictures of him everywhere, showing the words 'Big Brother is Watching You'. The book has had a great influence on the way that people think about and talk about politics, and people sometimes use the phrase *Nineteen Eighty-Four* to describe a society that is too strictly controlled. $\rightarrow$ see also NEWSPEAK, THOUGHT POLICE**,nineteenth 'hole, the** *humor* a place where people playing GOLF can relax and have a drink after a game; the club bar
**1922 Com·mit·tee, the** /ˌnaɪnti:n ,twenti 'tuː kəˌmɪti/ an organization in the British parliament for MPs (members of Parliament) for the Conservative Party who are BACKBENCHERs (=MPs who do not have official positions in the government or Opposition). It is thought to have a lot of influence in the Conservative Party, and the party leaders usually try to make sure that its members support them.**nine·ties** /'naɪntiz/ *n* [P] **1 [the] also '90s** the 1990s (=the years from 1990 to 1999): *in the early nineties | the car for the nineties* $\rightarrow$ see Feature on page A9 **2 in his/her/their nineties** aged from 90 to 99: *my grandparents are both in their nineties* **3 [the]** the numbers from 90 to 99, especially when used to measure temperature: *another hot day, with temperatures expected to reach the nineties.***,nine-to-'five** *adj, adv* from nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the afternoon, the typical working hours of an office worker: *a nine-to-five job | to work nine-to-five*
