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What is "neutral"

Crossword clues for neutral

neutral
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
neutral
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a neutral colour (=one that matches other colours easily, for example white or cream)
a neutral position (=not supporting either side in an argument)
▪ The US claimed that Jordan had abandoned its neutral position and sided with Iraq.
carbon neutral
▪ Costa Rica wants to be the first developing country to become carbon neutral.
neutral territory (=a place or country that is not controlled by either of the groups or countries involved in a war)
▪ After crossing the frontier post, he would be safe in neutral territory.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
▪ The role chosen by the teacher here is as neutral as possible, to avoid confrontation, effectively a messenger.
▪ He described his proposals for the coming year as neutral because he did not want to hamper recovery.
morally
▪ He makes it clear that pursuing money is distasteful but having money is morally neutral.
more
▪ We can rephrase Jenkin's argument in a more neutral analogy.
▪ There are techniques that help make communication more neutral, less emotional.
▪ Some nationwide systems of Bolshevik political control are examined in the next chapter, whereas here more neutral communications networks are studied.
▪ Oil, a liquid hydrocarbon, is a more neutral fuel.
▪ My response is, in brief, that no-supply is not more neutral than even-handed supply.
politically
▪ Since none of the available usages are politically neutral, I see no value in prescribing one over the others.
▪ But opera is politically neutral and the Khabarovsk opera house was vacant most of the time.
▪ It is also a politically neutral location which is vital with respect to some of the datasets it contains.
▪ Anything directed at rolling up narcotics distribution networks in the United States was politically neutral and therefore acceptable.
▪ One myth that prevails in advanced industrial societies, for example, is that technology is politically neutral.
▪ We need to be more sensitive to the messages underlying what are seen as politically neutral questions.
■ NOUN
condition
▪ Water condition: Very indifferent to water hardness, but prefers a slightly acid to neutral condition.
▪ Although there were additional conditions in the Heuer and Reisberg study the interesting comparison is between the arousal and neutral conditions.
▪ Water condition: Soft water with slightly acid to neutral condition.
▪ It thus tolerates a neutral condition.
country
▪ The Congress endorsed a call for neutral countries to mediate between the belligerents.
ground
▪ If so, much of life is neutral ground upon which natural selection enacts its rare battles.
▪ No memories, no ties: new ground and neutral ground, restful she called it.
position
▪ This amounts to encouraging outsourcing, by taking a neutral position on who provides services.
▪ Other institutions, such as the army, have taken a neutral position.
▪ The lever is light but almost sluggish in its return to the neutral position.
▪ The Clinton administration, though generally supporting open markets, had taken a neutral position on the banana question.
▪ It is important that all limbs are fully supported in a neutral position while the patient is anaesthetized.
▪ That camp still advocated casting to hold joints in neutral positions.
▪ If servos are connected to the outputs, they should immediately drive to the neutral position.
▪ Now, with no directing signals to orientate it, the shallow dish had automatically set itself in the neutral position.
site
▪ However, there is no neutral site.
▪ But changing the World Series to a neutral site would be a much more fundamental change than any of these.
state
▪ Nor was the aim ever to destroy an opponent since this might draw neutral states into a hostile coalition.
territory
▪ In this war, there's no neutral territory.
▪ We chatted noncommittally in the kitchen, neutral territory.
▪ That was why he had tried to reach Cantor by phone and arrange a meeting in some neutral territory.
▪ Beginning in the more neutral territory, I ask what leads her to seek incarceration for a kid.
tone
▪ So look for a neutral tone carpet, in shades of blue, pink or green with perhaps a delicate floral design.
▪ The apparently objective, ideologically neutral tone of Chronique de septembre is deceptive, however.
▪ More neutral tones are advised in the more modern home as that will allow the widest choice of complementary furnishings and decoration.
▪ Here, black has come up from the streets and into the drawing room; overleaf, neutral tones assert themselves.
water
▪ Water condition: Soft, neutral water.
▪ It is best cultivated in soft, moderately acid or neutral water and is the most suitable species for aquariums and terrariums.
zone
▪ Otherwise the neutral zone can become an utterly bewildering array of possibilities.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a dress in a neutral fabric
▪ Civil servants are supposed to be politically neutral.
▪ Gladioli prefer a neutral or slightly acidic soil.
▪ Rather than describing Ross as her boyfriend, Claire preferred the neutral term "friend."
▪ Switzerland remained neutral during World War II.
▪ The game will be held at a neutral site.
▪ To avoid ugly scenes, choose neutral topics for discussion.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As an outside observer drawn into the Statementing process by the professionals involved, I had a neutral but not disinterested role.
▪ But they are also a zingy accent in a neutral room.
▪ How can anything which can elicit two such opposing but adamant replies be neutral?
▪ Many therapists took a neutral stance on the issue rather than trying to save marriages.
▪ Some patients had voiced initial apprehension about their continuing to receive medication, but most were thought to be neutral about fundholding.
▪ The army, on the other hand, has remained largely neutral in the unprecedented fight to force democratic reform from Milosevic.
▪ The role chosen by the teacher here is as neutral as possible, to avoid confrontation, effectively a messenger.
▪ What if language is not a neutral system capable of objective description and analysis?
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ In 1917, U.S. neutrality ended when two of their ships were torpedoed.
▪ Vera dresses mostly in neutrals.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Bamboo pieces also suit rooms painted white and in shades of green, browns and neutrals.
▪ However, the U-pattern shift without clearly marked neutrals does make the work easier.
▪ The neutrals were delighted with the result in Paris: Balestre 29 votes, Mosley 43.
▪ These reds function as a neutral, and manufacturers paired them with just about everything.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
neutral

Colorless \Col"or*less\, a.

  1. Without color; not distinguished by any hue; transparent; as, colorless water; a colorless gas.

    Note: [Narrower terms: ashen, bloodless, livid, lurid, pale, pallid, pasty, wan, waxen; neutral; white] [Also See: achromatic, colorless.]

  2. Free from any manifestation of partial or peculiar sentiment or feeling; not disclosing likes, dislikes, prejudice, etc.; as, colorless music; a colorless style; definitions should be colorless.

  3. having lost its normal color.

    Note: [Narrower terms: blanched, etiolate, etiolated, whitened; bleached, faded, washed-out, washy; dimmed, dulled, grayed; dirty; dull, sober, somber, subfusc] colored

    Syn: colorless, uncolored, uncoloured.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
neutral

late 15c., "composed of contrasting elements which, in proper proportion, neutralize each other," from Middle French neutral, from Latin neutralis "of neuter gender," from neuter (see neuter (adj.)). Chemistry sense is from 1660s. Sense of "not taking sides in a fight" (1540s) probably is from a similar meaning in Medieval Latin. Of colors, from 1821. Neutral corner is from boxing (1908).

neutral

mid-15c., "one who remains neutral," from Latin neutralis "of neuter gender," (see neutral (adj.)). Meaning "disengaged position in gear mechanisms" is from 1912.

Wiktionary
neutral

a. 1 Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned. 2 Favouring neither the supporting nor opposing viewpoint of a topic of debate; unbiased. 3 (context grammar English) Neither positive nor negative. 4 Neither beneficial nor harmful. n. 1 A nonaligned state, or a member of such a state. 2 A person who takes no side in a dispute. 3 An individual or entity serving as an arbitrator or adjudicator (jargon / legal). 4 A neutral hue. 5 The position of a set of gears in which power cannot be transmitted to the drive mechanism. 6 An electrical terminal or conductor which has zero or close to zero voltage with respect to the ground.

Related phrases:
WordNet
neutral

  1. adj. neither moral nor immoral; neither good nor evil, right nor wrong

  2. having no personal preference; "impersonal criticism"; "a neutral observer" [syn: impersonal]

  3. having only a limited ability to react chemically; not active; "inert matter"; "an indifferent chemical in a reaction" [syn: inert, indifferent]

  4. not supporting or favoring either side in a war, dispute, or contest

  5. having no net electric charge; not electrified [syn: electroneutral] [ant: positive, negative]

  6. lacking hue; "neutral colors like back or white"

  7. of no distinctive quality or characteristics or type [ant: positive, negative]

  8. lacking distinguishing quality or characteristics; "a neutral personality that made no impression whatever"

neutral

n. one who does not side with any party in a war or dispute

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Neutral

Neutral and neutrality may mean the following, as the root is from the Latin neuter, translating to "neither one, nor the other".

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "neutral".

By the beginning of 1915 they had accumulated a sufficient mass of evidence from the belligerent countries to convince them that great masses of people in these countries were as amazed and as anxious to end the widening bloodshed and brutalization as the neutral onlookers.

But even there the Archimandrite was hearing rumours that the fleeing Navarchy ships were being allowed to surrender, or even accept a sort of neutral internment, still fully crewed and armed, rather than being destroyed or captured.

She was beautiful in a neutral way, emitting no light, defining herself in terms of attrition, a skinny thing, near blond, far beyond recall from the hard-edged rhythms of her Me, Southwestern woman, hard to remember and forget.

Even the famously neutral Swiss sanctioned a series of military wound ballistics studies on cadavers in the late 1800s.

Mars, far enough from Earth almost to be considered a Belter outpost, remained steadfastly neutral, which meant they were on both sides, selling.

It insisted on English and spoke with a Belter accent, flat and rather neutral, the intonation of a people who were too solitary and too crowded to afford much emotion.

Angela realized the conversation had lapsed into a monologue, to which Kit was responding in blandly neutral terms.

He was good at his job, that slime, and it took all my strength to park my face in neutral and sit calmly as Broyles made his closing argument.

Turning off the huge diesel without letting it idle in neutral for several minutes was a good way to damage it, and damaging the bulldozer was one of the last things he wanted to do.

Later, if there should be war between ourselves and the Diaboli, the other governments will at least remain neutral.

In the meantime Ely, fortified by his new legateship and disregarding his own excommunication at Reading, excommunicated the regency in England severally and by name, saving only John and one lone justiciar who had remained at least neutral in the late upheavals.

Short and round-faced, with longish, wispy white hair and neutral gray eyes set off by old-fashioned tortoiseshell, round-framed spectacles, Hoskinson presented a lot more of Bob Cratchit than he did James Bond.

The meeting-place, even, was not upon Tellus, but upon Medon, the newly acquired and hence entirely neutral planet.

They were easily deciphered, and de la Mery was heartened to see that they were all neutrals.

They have ahead of them a long winter of motoring about the country in all sorts of weather, wrangling with millers and stevedores, checking cargoes and costs, keeping the peace between the Belgians and the German authorities, observing the rules of the game toward everybody concerned, and above all, keeping neutral.