Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various plants of the genus Urtica, having toothed leaves, unisexual apetalous flowers, and stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact.
- noun Any of various hairy, stinging, or prickly plants.
- transitive verb To sting with or as if with a nettle.
- transitive verb To irritate; vex.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To sting; irritate or vex; provoke; pique.
- noun Nautical, same as
knittle , 2. - noun A herbaceous plant of the genus Urtica, armed with stinging hairs.
- noun One of several plants of other genera of the nettle family (Urticaceæ); any nettle-like plant: generally with a qualifying word.
- noun The white dead-nettle, Lamium album.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To fret or sting; to irritate or vex; to cause to experience sensations of displeasure or uneasiness not amounting to violent anger.
- noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Urtica, covered with minute sharp hairs containing a poison that produces a stinging sensation.
Urtica gracilis is common in the Northern, andUrtica chamædryoides in the Southern, United States. The common European species,Urtica urens andUrtica dioica , are also found in the Eastern united States.Urtica pilulifera is the Roman nettle of England. - noun a kind of thick cotton stuff, japanned, and used as a substitute for leather for various purposes.
- noun (Med.) an eruptive disease resembling the effects of whipping with nettles.
- noun (Zoöl.) a medusa.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
herb of the genusUrtica , which is covered withstinging , mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash. - noun The non-stinging plant
deadnettle , also in the nettle family,Urticaceae . - noun Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a
jellyfish or sea-nettle. - verb literally Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting causing a rash in someone.
- verb figuratively To
pique ,irritate ,vex orprovoke someone.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of numerous plants having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact (especially of the genus Urtica or family Urticaceae)
- verb cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
- verb sting with or as with nettles and cause a stinging pain or sensation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Naturalist we are told, that these names are omitted, 'for we call a nettle but a nettle, and the faults of fools their folly,' -- that exclusive good he finds both passive and active, and this also is one of those primary distinctions which 'is formed in all things,' and so too is the _subdivision_ of passive good which follows.
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He will make over to the ignominy of ignorant and barbaric ages, -- 'for we call a nettle but a nettle,' he will turn into a forgotten pageant of the rude, early, instinctive ages, the yet brutal ages of an undeveloped humanity, that triumphant reception at home, of the Conqueror of Foreign States.
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a monkey, poison to a nettle, and folly to a fool, they called a nettle
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We need to be very transparent, and very clear that this cannot continue, but at the same time grasp a very difficult political nettle, which is to address the problem of pay at the senior levels of the Civil Service.
Treasury investigates 4,000 civil service jobs in tax deals review
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I've also been looking to include more raw garlic in my diet as I've been fighting off a few infections so I hit on the idea of nettle pesto.
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This year we are grasping an even more difficult nettle, which is human rights in the two traditions.
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The sting of the nettle is a very curious and interesting object under the microscope.
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The bird spends the day searching for food in such places -- hence its name nettle-creeper -- creeping along the hedges, under brambles and thorns, and builds its nest in the locality to which it is accustomed.
Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies
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"We need to be very transparent, and very clear that this cannot continue, but at the same time grasp a very difficult political nettle, which is to address the problem of pay at the senior levels of the Civil Service."
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But an invasive pest called the nettle moth caterpillar can take the fun out
WN.com - Articles related to US scientists find key to creating drought resistant crops
rhizome31 commented on the word nettle
Ortie
June 18, 2008
sweetzingiber commented on the word nettle
to irritate
August 1, 2009