neuter

[ noo-ter, nyoo- ]

/ ˈnu tər, ˈnyu- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR neuter ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Grammar.

noting or pertaining to a gender that refers to things classed as neither masculine nor feminine.
(of a verb) intransitive.

Biology. having no organs of reproduction; without sex; asexual.

Zoology. having imperfectly developed sexual organs, as the worker bees and ants.

Botany. having neither stamens nor pistils; asexual.

neutral; siding with no one.

noun

Grammar.

the neuter gender.
a noun of that gender.
another element marking that gender.
an intransitive verb.

an animal made sterile by castration or spaying.

Zoology. a neuter insect.

a person or thing that is neutral.

verb (used with object)

Veterinary Science. to spay or castrate (a dog, cat, etc.).

Nearby words

neuss, neuston, neustria, neustrian, neut., neuter, neutercane, neutra, neutral, neutral axis, neutral corner

Origin of neuter

1350–1400; < Latin neuter neither (of two), equivalent to ne not + uter either (of two); replacing Middle English neutre < Middle French < Latin, as above

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for neuter

She says the Humane Society would like to enforce spay and neuter laws to the point where there would be no purebred dogs left.
The Sleazy War on the Humane Society|Center for Public Integrity|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It seeks to neuter the criticism of any lurking Paltrow naysayers wishing to transfer their negativity to Lively.
Blake Lively Gets Her GOOP On|Tim Teeman|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Take that away, or neuter the violence too much, and enrollment drops.
Steve James and Christopher Nowinski Talk the New Doc ‘Head Games’|Kevin Fallon|September 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Pro: “My God, it is intolerable to think of spending ones whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working & nothing after all.”
Do We Need a Guide to Marriage?|Chloë Schama|January 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST

It's just an attempt to neuter any Tea Party support for conservative candidates who happen to have an R by their names.
Ticking Off the Tea Party Crowd|Benjamin Sarlin|March 4, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Other animals are not distinguished as to sex, but are spoken of as neuter, the sex being of no consequence.
An English Grammar|W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
His pronoun hit antedates English itself, being the Anglo-Saxon neuter of he.
Our Southern Highlanders|Horace Kephart
But the Attic writers often use it as a neuter word; and the genitive case, as they use it, is .
The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenus|Athenus
The editor rose in her mind from the state of neuter to something of a man.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete|George Meredith
Was it a sort of neuter gender, a sexless being that was there in course of development?
Impressions of a War Correspondent|George Lynch

British Dictionary definitions for neuter

neuter

/ (ˈnjuːtə) /

adjective

grammar

denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns which for the most part have inanimate referents or do not specify the sex of their referents
(as noun)German ``Mädchen'' ( meaning ``girl'' ) is a neuter

(of animals and plants) having nonfunctional, underdeveloped, or absent reproductive organs

sexless or giving no indication of sexa neuter sort of name

noun

a sexually underdeveloped female insect, such as a worker bee

a castrated animal, esp a domestic animal

a flower in which the stamens and pistil are absent or nonfunctional

verb

(tr) to castrate or spay (an animal)

Word Origin for neuter

C14: from Latin, from ne not + uter either (of two)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for neuter

neuter

[ nōō′tər ]

adj.

Having undeveloped or imperfectly developed sexual organs.

Sexually undeveloped.

n.

A castrated animal.

v.

To castrate or spay.