Meaning of high nelly | Babel Free

Definitions

An old-fashioned utility bicycle, especially one with a step-through frame and high handlebars providing an erect riding posture; a roadster.

Ireland

Examples

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Before the age of the motorcar, practically everyone in Ireland owned a High Nelly.”

CEFR level