different between niggle vs nag
niggle
English
Etymology
First attested in 1599. Origin uncertain, but likely borrowed from dialectal Norwegian nigla (“to be stingy, to busy oneself with trifles”), ultimately from Old Norse hnøggr (“stingy; miserly”), related to Old English hn?aw (“stingy; niggardly”). More at niggard.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?n???l/
- Rhymes: -???l
Noun
niggle (plural niggles)
- A minor complaint or problem.
- 2012, The Guardian, London 2012: Christian Taylor aims high as Phillips Idowu stays away, by Anna Kessel
- The Olympic medal contender's back problem has been described as a "niggle" by the head coach, Charles van Commenee, but Porter's friend and former team-mate Danielle Carruthers revealed that the injury is playing on the Briton's mind.
- 2012, The Guardian, London 2012: Christian Taylor aims high as Phillips Idowu stays away, by Anna Kessel
- (obsolete) Small, cramped handwriting.
Verb
niggle (third-person singular simple present niggles, present participle niggling, simple past and past participle niggled)
- (transitive, obsolete) To trifle with; to deceive; to mock.
- I shall so feed your fierce vexation , And raise your worship ' s storms ; I shall so niggle you , And juggle you , and fiddle you , and firk you
- (transitive) To use, spend, or do in a petty or trifling manner.
- (intransitive) To dwell too much on minor points or on trifling details.
- (intransitive, chiefly Britain) To fidget, fiddle, be restless.
Derived terms
- niggly
Translations
Anagrams
- egling, gingle, leggin, leging
niggle From the web:
nag
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?næ?/
- (North American also) IPA(key): /ne??/, IPA(key): /n??/
- Rhymes: -æ?
Etymology 1
From Middle English nagge, cognate with Dutch negge.
Noun
nag (plural nags)
- A small horse; a pony.
- An old, useless horse.
- Synonyms: (Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, archaic) aver, dobbin, hack, jade, plug
- (obsolete, derogatory) A paramour.
- 1598, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, III. x. 11:
- Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt – Whom leprosy o'ertake!
- 1598, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, III. x. 11:
Coordinate terms
- (old useless horse): bum (racing)
Translations
Etymology 2
Probably from a North Germanic source; compare Swedish nagga (“to gnaw, grumble”), Danish nage, Icelandic nagga (“to complain”).
Verb
nag (third-person singular simple present nags, present participle nagging, simple past and past participle nagged)
- (transitive, intransitive) To continuously remind or complain to (someone) in an annoying way, often about insignificant or unnecessary matters.
- Anyone would think that I nagged at you, Amanda! (From Amanda! by Robin Klein)
- To bother with persistent thoughts or memories.
- The notion that he forgot something nagged him the rest of the day.
- To bother or disturb persistently in any way.
- a nagging pain in his left knee
- a nagging north wind
Synonyms
- (continually remind or complain): ride
- (bother with thoughts or memories): haunt
- (persistently bother or annoy): worry
Derived terms
- nag screen
- nagware
Related terms
- gnaw
Translations
Noun
nag (plural nags)
- Someone or something that nags.
- A repeated complaint or reminder.
- A persistent, bothersome thought or worry
Synonyms
- (person who nags): See Thesaurus:shrew
Derived terms
- nagless
Translations
Etymology 3
Noun
nag
- Misspelling of knack.
References
- nag at OneLook Dictionary Search
- nag in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Anagrams
- AGN, ANG, GAN, GNA, GaN, Gan, NGA, gan
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch nacht (“night”), from Middle Dutch nacht, from Old Dutch naht, from Proto-Germanic *nahts, from Proto-Indo-European *nók?ts.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /na?/
Noun
nag (plural nagte)
- The period between sunset and sunrise, when the sky is dark; night.
- (countable) darkness.
Colán
Noun
nag
- moon
Danish
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -a?
- Rhymes: -a??
Noun
nag n (singular definite naget, not used in plural form)
- grudge
Derived terms
- bære nag
Verb
nag
- imperative of nage
Gaikundi
Noun
nag
- sago
Further reading
- Gaikundi-Ontena Organised Phonology Data (2011)
German
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -a?k
Verb
nag
- singular imperative of nagen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of nagen
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *nag?, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nog?ós (“naked”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nâ??/
Adjective
n?g (definite n?g?, Cyrillic spelling ????)
- naked
Declension
Synonyms
- g?l, g?
Derived terms
- nág?st
Slovene
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *nag?, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nog?ós (“naked”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ná?k/
Adjective
n?g (not comparable)
- naked
Inflection
This adjective needs an inflection-table template.
Synonyms
- gòl (more formal)
Derived terms
- nágost
Further reading
- “nag”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
Welsh
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *nek?e, a combination of Proto-Indo-European *ne (negative particle) and *-k?e (“and”); compare Latin neque.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /na?/
Particle
nag
- not (in answers and tag questions)
Usage notes
Used before a vowel, but not when that vowel has resulted from the soft mutation of g. Thus na + gallan becomes na allan, not *nag allan.
Alternative forms
- na (used before a consonant)
White Hmong
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /na???/
Noun
nag
- rain
Derived terms
- los nag
Wolof
Noun
nag (definite form nag wi)
- cow, cattle
Zhuang
Etymology
From Proto-Tai *na?k? (“otter”). Cognate with Thai ??? (nâak), Ahom ???????????? (nak).
Pronunciation
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /na?k?/
- Tone numbers: nag8
- Hyphenation: nag
Noun
nag (Sawndip forms ???? or ? or ???? or ???? or ?, old orthography nag)
- otter
- Synonym: duznag
nag From the web:
- what nagging means
- what naggy means
- what naga means
- what nagging does to a relationship
- what national day is it
- what ng mean
- what nagging cough
- what bags