Word
NATS
Phoneticsnats
/ˈnæts/
Definitions
01political party members
n. A short name for members or supporters of a National Party, especially in New Zealand or South Africa.
n. A diminutive or colloquial shorthand for members of a National Party. Often used in political journalism within Commonwealth contexts.
“The Nats are leading in the latest polls before the election.”
“Political analysts suggested that the Nats would need to form a coalition with minor parties to secure a majority in the upcoming parliament.”
Informal · Dialect
Usage
Usually capitalized and used with the definite article 'the'.
Synonyms
02computing technology
n. Stands for Network Address Translation. In computing, this is the plural form for systems that help devices connect to the internet.
n. Abbreviation for Network Address Translation. Refers to multiple instances or configurations of the protocol used to remap one IP address space into another.
“The network engineer had to configure several NATs to manage the office traffic.”
“Implementing multiple NATs across the enterprise architecture helped isolate the internal subnets from direct external exposure.”
Technical
Usage
Often written in all capitals; the 's' remains lowercase.
03plural nickname
n. The plural form of the name Nat, used when talking about more than one person with that name.
n. The pluralised form of the hypocorism Nat, typically derived from Nathan, Nathaniel, or Natalie.
“There are three different Nats in my primary school class.”
“The gathering was confusing because both Nats were standing in the same corner of the room.”
Informal
Real-World Examples
“For controllers at National Air Traffic Services's (NATS) main control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, thunderstorms are a major preoccupation.” “The information will be passed to NATS, where air traffic controllers can direct pilots to avoid those areas.”