nice (of somewhat vague use in the 16th-17th cent. and freq. variously explained by comm. on S.; the common mod. sense of ‘agreeable’ is post-S.)
2.
not able to bear
much, delicate
2H4 I. i. 145
“Hence, therefore, thou
nice crutch!.”
3.
shy, coy
Gent. III. i. 82
“she is nice and
coy,”
LLL. V. ii. 220
“We'll not be nice: take
hands.”
4.
reluctant, unwilling;
phr. “makes nice of,”
is scrupulous about John III. iv.
138.
5.
fastidious, dainty,
‘particular’
Mer.V. II. i. 14
“nice direction of a
maiden's eyes,”
Shr. III. i. 81,
All'sW. V. i. 15
“sharp occasions, Which
lay nice manners by,”
H5 V. ii. 291*, 297*, Compl. 97.
6.
minute, subtle LLL. V. ii. 233,
1H6 II. iv. 17
“these nice sharp
quillets of the law,”
3H6 IV. vii. 58
“wherefore stand you on
nice points?.”
7.
slender Oth. III. iii. 15*
“nice and waterish
diet.”
8.
unimportant, trivial
R3 III. vii. 174
“the respects . . . are
nice and trivial,”
Rom. III. i. 160,
V. ii. 18
“not nice, but full of
charge,”
Cæs. IV. iii. 8
“every nice
offence.”
9.
critical, precarious
1H4 IV. i. 48
“the nice hazard of one
doubtful hour.”
10.
accurate, exact,
precise Ado V. i. 75*
“his nice fence,”
2H4 II. iii. 40,
Troil. IV. v. 249
“
conjecture,”
Mac. IV. iii. 174
“O! relation Too ,”
Lucr. 1412
“the painter was so
nice.”
