From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishneatneat /niːt/ ●●● S2 adjective 1 tidyTIDY tidy and carefully arranged neat handwriting His clothes were always neat and clean. Everything in the house was neat and tidy. She arranged the books in a nice neat pile.► see thesaurus at tidy2 liking things tidyTIDY someone who is neat likes to keep things tidy I’ve always been quite neat.3 good American English spokenGOOD/EXCELLENT very good, pleasant, or enjoyable That’s a really neat idea. I liked working for him – he was a neat guy.► see thesaurus at good4 small something that is neat is small and attractive her small, neat features5 cleverINTELLIGENT formal a neat way of doing or saying something is simple but clever and effective In the end we found a very neat solution to the problem. a neat summary of the main issues6 drinksDFDDRINK especially British English a neat alcoholic drink has no ice or water or any other liquid added SYN straight I can’t drink brandy neat. drinking neat whisky —neatly adverb He wrote his name neatly at the bottom of the page. The problem was neatly summed up by one of the teachers. —neatness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
neat• "Why don't we go to the beach!'' "Yeah that sounds really neat.''• She had been waiting there all night, but she still looked neat.• He was about fifty-five, short, sturdy, and very neat.• Douglas drinks his scotch neat.• Draw a rough diagram -- it doesn't have to be very neat.• The handwriting was neat and prim.• I like to see everything looking neat and tidy.• Chris looked neat and well shaven.• Neither of my sons is neat by nature.• An man in a neat gray suit sat on the other side of the bar.• Gina has very small neat handwriting.• One of our designers has come up with a neat idea for storing computer disks.• Jim and I need more time together away from the kids, so we came up with this neat idea of meeting after work.• Billy's cottage was set back off the road, behind a neat little hedge.• I met some really neat people at the conference.• He put his clothes in a neat pile on the bed.• His jackets were arranged in a neat row in the closet.• At the Penta the porters had worked out a neat scam with the airline crews who regularly booked into the hotel.• They were part of another life, neat signals towards its ending.• a neat software package• It's a complicated problem, and there's no neat solution.• Mrs Woodie cut the sandwiches in neat squares.• Two paths crossed the rectangular field, forming a neat St Andrew's Cross of down-trodden grass.• A few neat steps, a well-choreographed move and they claimed one back.• I bought a neat tool for carving wood.• Dole has to go negative without seeming negative, a neat trick.• Taking up a sport is a neat way of meeting new people, and it's good for you too.neat and clean• Their apartment was always neat and clean.• Her bed and bedside table were always neat and clean.• I was not a great waitress, but I was neat and clean.• Inside, the medium-weight bracing is in the traditional Martin X-pattern and everything looks neat and clean.• So whenever the board arrived, of course, the children were always neat and clean.• Already a six-footer, he is noted for keeping his uniform neat and clean, and for excellence in sports.• It looked neat and clean from the outside and the curtains were freshly washed.• No scars, the nails neat and clean, shorter than Brampton's.• It was neat and clean, the smell of paint and thinners taking over from the smell of straw and apples.Origin neat (1500-1600) French net, from Latin nitidus “bright, neat”, from nitere “to shine” 