noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
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"The children were badly nettled after playing in the field."
"[T]his is no lavv unto the vvoof of the neat Retiarie Spider, vvhich ſeems to vveave vvithout tranſverſion, and by the union of right lines to make out a continued ſurface, vvhich is beyond the common art of Textury, and may ſtill nettle Minerva the Godeſſe of that myſtery."
"It is better to be stung by a nettle than pricked by a rose."
Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.; Especially, most species of herb genus Urtica, stinging nettles:; Most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle),
Common synonyms include: aggravate, agitate, anger, annoy, annoy, annoy.
It is better to be stung by a nettle than pricked by a rose.
Pronounced /[ˈnɛɾʊl]/.
From Middle English netle, netel, from Old English netle, netele, netel, from Proto-West Germanic *natilā (cognate with Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele (modern Dutch netel), German Nessel, Middle Danish nædlæ (“nettle”)), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *natǭ (of unknown origin, perhaps from the same source as net).