NERVE

boldness, nerve, brass, face, cheek

(noun) impudent aggressiveness; “I couldn’t believe her boldness”; “he had the effrontery to question my honesty”

heart, mettle, nerve, spunk

(noun) the courage to carry on; “he kept fighting on pure spunk”; “you haven’t got the heart for baseball”

nerve, nervus

(noun) any bundle of nerve fibers running to various organs and tissues of the body

steel, nerve

(verb) get ready for something difficult or unpleasant

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

nerve (plural nerves)

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

Hyponym: Thesaurus:nerve

(nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron.

(botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood

Courage, boldness.

Synonym: Thesaurus:courage

Patience.

Stamina, endurance, fortitude.

Audacity, gall.

Synonyms: brashness, brazenness, balls, Thesaurus:courage

(polymer technology) The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.

(in the plural) Agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotion.

(obsolete) Sinew, tendon.

Verb

nerve (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved)

(transitive) To give courage.

(transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used with “up”.

Synonyms

• (give strength): See also strengthen

Anagrams

• Verne, erven, never

Source: Wiktionary

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Nerve, n. Etym: [OE. nerfe, F. nerf, L. nervus, akin to Gr. needle. Cf. Neuralgia.]

1. (Anat.)

Definition: One of the whitish and elastic bundles of fibers, with the accompanying tissues, which transmit nervous impulses between nerve centers and various parts of the animal body.

Note: An ordinary nerve is made up of several bundles of nerve fibers, each bundle inclosed in a special sheath (the perineurium) and all bound together in a connective tissue sheath and framework (the epineurium) containing blood vessels and lymphatics.

2. A sinew or a tendon. Pope.

3. Physical force or steadiness; muscular power and control; constitutional vigor. he led me on to mightiest deeds, Above the nerve of mortal arm. Milton.

4. Steadiness and firmness of mind; self-command in personal danger, or under suffering; unshaken courage and endurance; coolness; pluck; resolution.

5. Audacity; assurance. [Slang]

6. (Bot.)

Definition: One of the principal fibrovascular bundles or ribs of a leaf, especially when these extend straight from the base or the midrib of the leaf.

7. (Zoöl.)

Definition: One of the nervures, or veins, in the wings of insects. Nerve cell (Anat.), one of the nucleated cells with which nerve fibers are connected; a ganglion cell.

– Nerve fiber (Anat.), one of the fibers of which nerves are made up. These fibers are either medullated or nonmedullated. in both kinds the essential part is the translucent threadlike axis cylinder which is continuous the whole length of the fiber.

– Nerve stretching (Med.), the operation of stretching a nerve in order to remedy diseases such as tetanus, which are supposed to be influenced by the condition of the nerve or its connections.

Nerve, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nerved; p. pr. & vb. n. Nerving.]

Definition: To give strength or vigor to; to supply with force; as, fear nerved his arm.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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