nettle
pronunciation
How to pronounce nettle in British English:
UK [ˈnetl]
How to pronounce nettle in American English:
US [ˈnɛtl]
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- Noun:
- any of numerous plants having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact (especially of the genus Urtica or family Urticaceae)
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- Verb:
- sting with or as with nettles and cause a stinging pain or sensation
- cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
Word Origin
- nettle (n.)
- stinging plant, Old English netele, from Proto-Germanic *natilon (cognates: Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele, Dutch netel, German Nessel, M.Da. nædlæ "nettle"), diminutive of *naton, perhaps from PIE root *ned- "to twist, knot" (see net (n.)). "[N]ettles or plants of closely related genera such as hemp were used as a source of fiber" [Watkins].
- nettle (v.)
- c. 1400, "to beat with nettles," from nettle (n.). Figurative sense of "irritate, provoke" is from 1560s. Related: Nettled; nettling. Nettled. Teized, provoked, out of temper. He or she has pissed on a nettle; said of one who is pevish or out of temper. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
Example
- 1. Stinging hairs on a nettle leaf
- 2. Stinging nettle may improve symptoms of allergic rhinitis .
- 3. Try other natural remedies such as stinging nettle to relieve congestion .
- 4. Nettle , for one , believes it can .
- 5. Now , though , ccb seems determined to grasp the nettle .