2 meanings, 3 uses
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1 —1 use as in:
played at a neutral site
Definition
not favoring any side in a contest, war, disagreement, or other dispute
- Life, if you looked about you, bore no resemblance not only to the lies that streamed out of the telescreens, but even to the ideals that the Party was trying to achieve. Great areas of it, even for a Party member, were neutral and non-political, a matter of slogging through dreary jobs, fighting for a place on the Tube, darning a worn-out sock, cadging a saccharine tablet, saving a cigarette end.p. 74.0
There are no more uses of "neutral" flagged with this meaning in 1984 by Orwell.
Typical Usage
(best examples)
2 —2 uses as in:
a carbon-neutral building
Definition
not affected by; or does not affect
The expression [x] neutral means two things do not affect each other. More specifically, it means one of two things depending upon context:
- something is not affected by x — for example "a revenue neutral tax plan" does not affect the amount of revenue collected. (It might raise taxes in one area and reduce them in another so that the total tax revenue is unchanged.)
- something does not affect x — for example "a carbon neutral home" is a home that does not affect carbon. Part of its design might include using solar energy to control climate rather than burning fossil fuels.
- In the crucial years, the fact that the Party was not a hereditary body did a great deal to neutralize opposition.p. 209.8
neutralize = make something so it has no effect
(editor's note: The suffix "-ive" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.)
(editor's note: The suffix "-ive" converts a word to a verb. This is the same pattern you see in words like apologize, theorize, and dramatize.)
- In his capacity as an administrator, it is often necessary for a member of the Inner Party to know that this or that item of war news is untruthful, and he may often be aware that the entire war is spurious and is either not happening or is being waged for purposes quite other than the declared ones: but such knowledge is easily neutralized by the technique of doublethink.p. 192.9
There are no more uses of "neutral" flagged with this meaning in 1984 by Orwell.
Typical Usage
(best examples)