ngao
1. (verb) (-a,-tia) dress with an adze (of timber).
Ka whakaatu mai ia me pēhea te auaha toki: ka tīmata i te rehu, ki te ngao, te whakaene, ka mutu i te orooro (Te Ara 2011). / He demonstrates how to make an adze: beginning with flaking, hammer dressing, smoothing and grinding.
See also ngao pae, ngao matariki, ngao tū
2. (noun) palate, roof of the mouth.
Kakū ana tana ngao i ngā kai papai a te Pākehā, engari ko tēhea atu hoki i te kānga kōpiro, i te toroī, i te kōura mara, i te kina i rāua ki te wai māori mō ngā rā e toru, i te kōuka, i te mangō me te kererū huahua, he mea kōtutu katoa i roto anō i ōna hinu (TTR 1998:206). / He enjoyed the finest of Pākehā foods but relished fermented corn, pickled pūhā and mussels, crayfish fermented in fresh water, sea-urchins steeped in fresh water for three days, inner baby fronds of the cabbage tree, shark, and wild pigeons preserved entirely in their own fat.
3. (noun) strength, energy, stamina, vigour, verve, get-up-and-go.
4. (noun) external corner, projection, obtuse angle.
Kei tuki tō rae ki te ngao o te kāpata nā (PK 2008:515). / Don't bump your forehead on the corner of that cupboard.
Synonyms: tāmore, koki hāpūpū, hau
