%nay%

n. A cockney. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Deny. ] To deny. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

That with great rage he stoutly doth denay. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Denial; refusal. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a major school of Buddhism teaching personal salvation through one's own efforts. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. one of two great schools of Buddhist doctrine emphasizing personal salvation through one's own efforts; chiefly in Sri Lanka (Ceylon); Myanmar (Burma); Thailand; Cambodia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an adherent of Hinayana Buddhism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The old name, in Scotland, for the last day of the year, on which children go about singing, and receive a dole of bread or cakes; also, the entertainment given on that day to a visitor, or the gift given to an applicant. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Indian name. ] (Zool.) The fresh-water drumfish (Haploidonotus grunniens). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Nays 1. Denial; refusal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A negative vote; one who votes in the negative. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is no nay, there is no denying it. [ Obs. ] haucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. To refuse. [ Obs. ] Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Icel. nei; akin to E. no. See No, adv. ] 1. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. Opposed to aye or yea. See also Yes. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

And eke when I say “ye, ” ne say not “nay.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke xiii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. Acts xvi. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

He that will not when he may,
When he would he shall have nay. Old Prov. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Before the time of Henry VIII. nay was used to answer simple questions, and no was used when the form of the question involved a negative expression; nay was the simple form, no the emphatic. Skeat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. “Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. (Zool.) A specied of wild sheep (Ovis Hodgsonii), native of Nepal and Tibet. It has a dorsal mane and a white ruff beneath the neck. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Icel. neita. ] To refuse; to deny. [ Obs. ] “He shall not nayt ne deny his sin.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The negative side. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Howe'er you lean to the nayward. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A byword; a proverb; also, a watchword. [ Obs. ] hak. [ 1913 Webster ]