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nettle

noun

  1. stinging plant
L324416 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. vex or irritate
L332308 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈnɛtəl/ / [ˈnɛɾəɫ]

noun

Etymology: 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).

  1. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  2. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  3. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  4. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  5. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  6. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  7. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  8. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  9. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  10. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  11. Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.
  12. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  13. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  14. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  15. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  16. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  17. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  18. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  19. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  20. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  21. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  22. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  23. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  24. Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a jellyfish or sea nettle.

verb

Etymology: 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).

  1. Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting, causing a rash in someone.

    The children were badly nettled after playing in the field.

    […] I am whipp’d and scourged with rods, / Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear / Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.

  2. To pique, irritate, vex or provoke.

    [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.

    His Miſtreſs: vvhoſe Miſtreſs, vvhat Miſtreſs; s'life hovv that little vvord has nettled me!