high nelly
high nelly noun: an old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture; a roadster.
Noun (1)
high nelly (plural high nellies)
- An old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture; a roadster.
- I don't know what make of bike it was but it was certainly the motor bike version of the High Nelly push bike or the Tin Lizzy car.1974 July 17, Derry Power, “Spain before it was packaged”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page 16
- Chinese bikes are bigger and heavier than Western ones, they carry number plates and resemble the old "High Nellies" that are now such a rare sight on Irish roads.1988 October 8, Deaglán de Bréadún, “The Saturday Column; Stephen Roche's slow bike from China”, in The Irish Times, Dublin, page Weekend 12
- Synonyms:
- sit-up-and-beg
Noun (2) capitalized: High Nelly
High Nelly (plural High Nellies)
- Alternative form of high nelly.
Examples of high nelly in a sentence
- 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.1989 Fall, Aidan Higgins, “Two from Ronda Gorge”, in Four Quarters, volume 3 [2nd series], number 2, →ISSN, page 53:
- Before the age of the motorcar, practically everyone in Ireland owned a High Nelly.2014 July 6, Tom Prendeville, “High Nelly bicycles making a comeback on the roads again”, in Sunday Independent:
Synonyms of high nelly
Forms of high nelly
| plural | high nellies |
|---|---|
| alternative form | high nellie |
| alternative form | high-nelly |
| alternative form | High Nelly |
| plural | High Nellies |
Origin of high nelly
From the high riding position and Nelly, an old-fashioned name
Questions about high nelly
- What does high nelly mean?
- High nelly means an old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture; a roadster.
- How do you use high nelly in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is high nelly?
- High nelly is a noun.
- What is the plural of high nelly?
- The plural of high nelly is high nellies.
Words near high nelly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: high nelly (page history and authors); High Nelly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “high nelly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/high_nelly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.