ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Nettle

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈnɛtəl/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Nettle is a noun meaning Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.

Meaning

Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.

More Meanings

  1. Certain plants that have spines or prickles:
  2. Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:
  3. Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a jellyfish or sea nettle.
  4. (transitive) Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting, causing a rash in someone.
  5. (transitive, figurative) To pique, irritate, vex or provoke.

Example Sentences

The children were badly nettled after playing in the field.
I saw Mr. Williams was a little nettled at my Impatience […]
His Miſtreſs: vvhoſe Miſtreſs, vvhat Miſtreſs; s'life hovv that little vvord has nettled me!
[…] I am whipp’d and scourged with rods, / Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear / Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.

Word Forms

Synonyms for nettle

Depending on context, synonyms include goad, vex, nark, gravel, bother, irritate.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include gravel, needle, goad, rag, devil, rile.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.