(nēt) adjective
1. Characterized by strict order, tidiness, and cleanliness.
2. Well-proportioned; trim; shapely.
3. Suited in character to a required purpose; hence, adroit; clever.
4. Clear of extraneous matter; free from admixture; undiluted: a glass of brandy neat.
5. Remaining after every deduction; net. [<AF niet, OF net <L nitidus shining]
—neat′ly adverb
—neat′ness noun Synonyms: clean, cleanly, dapper, natty, nice, orderly, prim, spruce, tidy, trim. That which is clean is simply free from soil or defilement of any kind. Things are orderly in relation to other things; a room or desk is orderly when every article is in place; a person is orderly who habitually keeps things so. Tidy denotes that which conforms to propriety in general; an unlaced shoe may be perfectly clean, but is not tidy. Neat refers to that which is clean and tidy, with nothing superfluous, conspicuous, or showy; we speak of plain but neat attire; the same idea of freedom from the superfluous appears in the phrases “a neat speech,” “a neat turn,” “a neat reply,” etc. A clean cut has no ragged edges; a neat stroke just does what is intended. Nice is stronger than neat, implying value and beauty; a cheap, coarse dress may be perfectly neat, but would not be termed nice. Spruce is applied to the show and affectation of neatness with a touch of smartness. Trim denotes a certain shapely and elegant firmness, often with suppleness and grace. Prim applies to a precise, formal, affected nicety. Dapper is spruce with the suggestion of smallness and slightness; natty, a dimunitive of neat, suggests minute elegance, with a tendency toward the exquisite; as, a dapper man in a natty business suit. See BECOMING. Antonyms: dirty, disorderly, dowdy, negligent, rough, rude, slouchy, slovenly, soiled, untidy.

(nēt) noun Obs.
1. Bovine cattle collectively.
2. A single bovine animal.
—adjective Pertaining to bovine animals: neat cattle. [OE nēat]