nor (redirected from NOR gate)

*(neither) hide nor hair

Cliché no sign or indication of someone or something. (*Typically: find ~; see ~.) We could find neither hide nor hair of him. I don't know where he is. There has been no one here. We found neither hide nor hair.

See also: hair, hide

*neither rhyme nor reason

Cliché without logic, order, or planning. (Describes something disorganized. *Typically: be ~; have ~.) There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to Gerald's filing system. The novel's plot had neither rhyme nor reason.

See also: neither, reason, rhyme

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Prov. It is difficult to be friends with someone who owes you money or with someone to whom you owe something, so it is better not to borrow or lend in the first place. After losing several of my favorite books because I didn't have the nerve to insist that my friends return them, I learned that it is best to neither a borrower nor a lender be.

See also: neither

neither fish nor fowl

Cliché not any recognizable thing. The car that they drove up in was neither fish nor fowl. It must have been made out of spare parts. This proposal is neither fish nor fowl. I can't tell what you're proposing.

See also: fish, fowl, neither

neither here nor there

Cliché of no consequence or meaning; irrelevant and immaterial. Whether you go to the movie or stay at home is neither here nor there. Your comment—though interesting—is neither here nor there.

See also: here, neither

not for (anything in) the world and not for love nor money; not on your life

Fig. not for anything (no matter what its value). (Note the variation in the examples. The order of love nor money is fixed.) I won't do it for love nor money. He said he wouldn't do it—not for the world.

See also: world

not miss something for the world and not miss something for love nor money

Fig. would not miss something for any reason at all. Of course I'll be at your wedding. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

See also: miss, world

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not for love nor/or money

if you say that you cannot or will not do something for love nor money, you mean that it is impossible to do or that you will not do it whatever happens It's incredibly popular. You can't get tickets for love nor money. He's hopeless and unreliable. I wouldn't give him a job for love nor money.

See also: love, money

be neither fish nor fowl

if something is neither fish nor fowl, it is difficult to describe or understand because it is like one thing in some ways but like another thing in other ways The hovercraft has always suffered from the fact that it is neither fish nor fowl.

See also: fish, fowl, neither

be neither one thing nor the other

if you say that something is neither one thing nor the other, you think it is bad because it is a mixture of two different things that do not combine well together I prefer a book to be either fact or fiction - this one's neither one thing nor the other.

See also: neither, one, other, thing

can't make head nor/or tail of something

to not be able to understand something at all We couldn't make head or tail of the film. 'What does his message say?' 'I don't know - I can't make head or tail of it.'

See also: head, make, tail

haven't seen hide nor hair of somebody/something   (informal)

if you have not seen hide nor hair of someone or something, you have not seen them for a period of time (often + since ) I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since last Sunday, and I'm beginning to get rather worried.

See also: hair, haven't, hide, seen

neither here nor there

if a fact is neither here nor there, it is not important Whether they go or not is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.

See be neither fish nor fowl

See also: here, neither

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neither here nor there

not of any importance Whether we take the train or drive is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.

See also: here, neither