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Nerve

//nɝv// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.

    "The nerves can be seen through the skin."

  2. 2
    impudent aggressiveness wordnet
  3. 3
    A neuron. colloquial, nonstandard
  4. 4
    the courage to carry on wordnet
  5. 5
    A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.

    "Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves."

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  1. 6
    any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body wordnet
  2. 7
    Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.

    "He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited."

  3. 8
    Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.

    "The web-team found git-sed is really a time and nerve saver when doing mass changes on your repositories"

  4. 9
    One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche. in-plural

    "All these rationalizations for asinine behavior are getting on my nerves."

  5. 10
    Mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions. in-plural

    "Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test; she was a bundle of nerves."

  6. 11
    The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.

    "The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down."

  7. 12
    Sinew, tendon. obsolete

    "Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them."

Verb
  1. 1
    To give courage. transitive

    "May their example nerve us to face the enemy."

  2. 2
    get ready for something difficult or unpleasant wordnet
  3. 3
    To give strength; to supply energy or vigour. transitive

    "The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march."

  4. 4
    To perform a neurectomy on (someone or something). informal, transitive

    "She has been trying everything (wedge pads, bar shoes, etc.) and he is still dead lame. Someone has suggested nerving him, which (I believe - correct me if I am wrong!) involves cutting the main nerve in his foot so he can be ridden without pain."

  5. 5
    To get on (someone’s) nerves; to annoy, irritate, or bother (someone). informal, rare, transitive

    "I guess, my previous message never came in the net..so again: (hope, i don't nerve anyone) We want to combine different LAN's via fiberoptic cable (Monomode) to the Internet."

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  1. 6
    To be nervous. informal, intransitive, rare

    "Mathias slowly leads his hand down to the holster... yeah, cool steel... his fingers wrap around the grip of his Smith & Wesson's, dragging it out, aiming and... In other words: Stop nerving, damiac14!"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb verb sense 4 is chiefly a semantic loan from German nerven.

Etymology 2

Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb verb sense 4 is chiefly a semantic loan from German nerven.

See also for "nerve"

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