high nelly

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word high nelly. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word high nelly, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say high nelly in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word high nelly you have here. The definition of the word high nelly will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofhigh nelly, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

high nelly (plural high nellies)

  1. (Ireland, formerly derogatory, now nostalgic) An old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture
    • 1989, Hugh Fitzgerald Ryan, Reprisal: a novel, Wolfhound Press, →ISBN, page 208:
      there's an old bike out the back of the barracks. You're welcome to it. It's a bit of a high-nelly, and it needs new tyres, but it will get you around.
    • 1989 (Fall) Aidan Higgins. "Two from Ronda Gorge" in Four Quarters Vol.3 No.2 p.53:
      Now Julia Mahon. with two buckets of pigswill slung over the handlebars of her High Nelly, is off again to talk to her mother in St Michael's cemetery.
    • 2014 April 1, Philo’s old high nelly to be lovingly restored:
      A HIGH Nellie bike once used by Irish rock icon Phil Lynott is being lovingly restored by a group of Carlovians, who are hoping to auction it to raise funds for a local cancer support group. Philomena Lynott found her much-loved 1930s bicycle rusting away in the garden shed and decided to put it to better use.
    • 2014 July 6, Tom Prendeville, “High Nelly bicycles making a comeback on the roads again”, in Sunday Independent:
      Before the age of the motorcar, practically everyone in Ireland owned a High Nelly.

Synonyms

Translations