never

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As a negative adverb, never refers primarily to repeated or continuous non-occurrence over a period of time: They never answer letters / It never rained at all last month. It should only be used informally to refer to one occasion, when a simple negative would be equally appropriate: I phoned you but you never rang back [better, you didn't ring back]; it is used with similar meaning in a number of fixed expressions such as never fear and well I never. It is also used idiomatically as an emphatic negative with reference to future time: You'll never catch the train now. The emphatic form never ever (sometimes with a comma between them) is also restricted to informal contexts:

She continued, a little too vehemently, 'I've never, ever been bored'—Maggie Gee, 1985

She was like a mother, but she could never ever be my mother—fiction website, American English 2001.

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Idioms beginning with never:
never a dull moment
never fear
never give a sucker an even break
never had it so good, one
never hear the end of
never-never land
never say die
never say never

See also better late than never; it never rains but it pours; lightning never strikes twice; now or never; watched pot never boils; wonders will never cease; you never can tell.

adv

Definition: not at any time
Antonyms: always, forever

IN BRIEF: Not at any time.

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

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sign description: The open hand makes a sweeping motion in the air that begins a circle but that drops before it finishes.

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noun
noun, nautical

to do a never to shirk; to loaf. (1946 — 61).

Previous:	nerts, nerk, nerd
Next:	never-never, neves, newbie

For a list of words related to never, see:

• Limitations and Conditions
• Absolutes and Guarantees
• Relative Time - never: (adv) not ever, at no time

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See words rhyming with "never."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Never.

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Dansk (Danish)
adv. - aldrig

idioms:

• never fear    vær ikke bange for det
• never mind    det kan være lige meget
• never-never land    drømmeland
• that would never do    det går ikke
• the never-never    afbetalingssystem
• Well I never    Nu har jeg aldrig hørt så galt!

Nederlands (Dutch)
nooit, nimmer, niet eens, in geen geval

Français (French)
adv. - jamais, ne .. jamais, rien, pas possible, par exemple (excl), pas vrai (excl)

idioms:

• never fear    n'ayez crainte, soyez tranquille (excl)
• never mind    peu importe, ne vous en faites pas (excl)
• that would never do    c'était inadmissible (excl)
• Well I never    ça par exemple (excl)

Deutsch (German)
adv. - nie, ganz und gar nicht, (doch) wohl nicht

idioms:

• never fear    keine Sorge
• never mind    vergiß es, das macht nichts, mach dir nichts draus
• that would never do    das wäre nicht sehr gut zum Anziehen
• Well I never    bewundert sein

Ελληνική (Greek)
adv. - ποτέ, ουδέποτε
int. - Ποτέ!, Δεν το πιστεύω!, Μη μου πεις!

idioms:

• never fear    κανένας φόβος!, μείνε ήσυχος!, πού κάτι τέτοιο, πού τέτοια τύχη
• never looked back    τα άφησε όλα πίσω, δεν ξανακοίταξε πίσω του
• never mind    δεν πειράζει!
• never-never land    νεφελοκοκκυγία, χώρα των παραμυθιών
• that would never do    είναι ανεπίτρεπτο, δεν είναι καθόλου σωστό
• the never-never    (Βρετ.) σύστημα (αγοράς) με δόσεις
• Well I never    για δες πράγματα!

Italiano (Italian)
mai

idioms:

• never fear    mai paura
• never mind    non preoccuparsi di
• never-never land    paese della cuccagna
• the never-never    il sistema delle vendite a rate
• well I never!    chi l'avrebbe mai detto!
• will/would never do    inaccettabile

Português (Portuguese)
adv. - nunca
int. - jamais!

idioms:

• never fear    não tenha medo
• never mind    não faz mal
• never-never land    país do faz-de-conta
• the never-never    a perder de vista, irreal
• well I never!    expressão de grande surpresa/indignação
• will/would never do    jamais o farei

Русский (Russian)
никогда

idioms:

• never fear    не беспокойся!
• never mind    брось ты!, не беспокойся!
• never-never land    придуманная страна
• the never-never    кредит
• well I never!    быть того не может!
• will/would never do    (это) никуда не годится!

Español (Spanish)
adv. - nunca, jamás

idioms:

• never fear    no hay cuidado, no hay temor
• never mind    no se preocupe, no importa, da igual
• that would never do    no es correcto, no es conveniente, no resultará de ningún modo
• Well I never    ¡no me digas!, Nunca me imaginé!

Svenska (Swedish)
adv. - aldrig, inte alls
int. - det menar du inte!

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
决不, 从未

idioms:

• never fear    不怕, 别怕
• never mind    没关系, 不用担心
• never-never land    想像中的地方, 偏远地区
• that would never do    永不接受
• the never-never    非真实的, 幻想的
• Well I never    我真没想到

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 決不, 從未

idioms:

• never fear    不怕, 別怕
• never mind    沒關係, 不用擔心
• never-never land    想像中的地方, 偏遠地區
• that would never do    永不接受
• the never-never    非真實的, 幻想的
• Well I never    我真沒想到

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 일찍이 ~이 없다, 결코 ~않다

idioms:

• the never-never    ~월부로
• Well I never    설마, 이거 놀라겠는걸!

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - いまだかつて…ない, 決して…ない, まさか…ではあるまい

idioms:

• it never hurts ...    絶対大丈夫
• it never rains but it pours    降れば必ずどしゃ降り, 不幸は度重なる
• never fear    心配無用
• never looked back    過去を気にしない
• never mind    …はもちろん
• the never-never    人里離れた土地, 空想上の場所
• will/would never do    金輪際しない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(ظرف) قط, ابدا (نداء) للنفي او الرفض : ابدا !‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮אף פעם לא, לעולם לא‬

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