adv. [ AS. n&aemacr_;fre; ne not, no + &aemacr_;fre ever. ] 1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] Death still draws nearer, never seeming near. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. In no degree; not in the least; not. [ 1913 Webster ] Whosoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his eyes in another man's head, and yet see never the worse. South. [ 1913 Webster ] And he answered him to never a word. Matt. xxvii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Never is much used in composition with present participles to form adjectives, as in never-ceasing, never-dying, never-ending, never-fading, never-failing, etc., retaining its usual signification. [ 1913 Webster ] Never a deal, not a bit. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. -- Never so, as never before; more than at any other time, or in any other circumstances; especially; particularly; -- now often expressed or replaced by ever so. Ask me never so much dower and gift. Gen. xxxiv. 12. A fear of battery, . . . though never so well grounded, is no duress. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]
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