nerve
Plural: nerves
Noun
- any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body
- the courage to carry on
- impudent aggressiveness
- A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.
- A neuron.
- A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.
- Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.
- Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.
- One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche.
- Mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions.
- The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.
- Sinew, tendon.
Verb
Verb Forms: nerved, nerving, nerves
- To give courage, strength, or confidence to someone.
- get ready for something difficult or unpleasant
- To give courage.
- To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.
- To perform a neurectomy on (someone or something).
- To get on (someone’s) nerves; to annoy, irritate, or bother (someone).
- To be nervous.
Examples
- A bold challenge from his opponent served to nerve him for a comeback victory.
- All these rationalizations for asinine behavior are getting on my nerves.
- Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test; she was a bundle of nerves.
- He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.
- He hasn't the nerve to tell her he likes her.
- His nerves could no longer handle the worry.
- May their example nerve us to face the enemy.
- Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.
- The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.
- The nerves can be seen through the skin.
- The web-team found git-sed is really a time and nerve saver when doing mass changes on your repositories
Origin / Etymology
Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.
Synonyms
boldness, brass, cheek, face, heart, mettle, nervus, spunk, steel, anneal, audacity, balls, bield, boldhead, brace, brashness, bravehood, braveness, bravery, brazenness, build up, confirm, courage, courageousness, daring, enstrengthen, fearlessness, fortify, grit, guts, harden, indurate, intend, intrepidity, intrepidness, invigorate, mood, munite, nerve, nerve up, ovaries, pecker, pluck, reinforce, roborate, strength, strengthen, thicken, undauntedness, valour
Scrabble Score: 8
nerve: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordnerve: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
nerve: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary