▪ I. nerve, n.
(nɜːv)
Also 6–7 nerue, 7 nerv.
[ad. L. nerv-us sinew, tendon, bow-string, etc., app. related to the synonymous Gr. νεῦρον, which in later use (Galen, etc.) also has the mod. sense of ‘nerve’. Hence also It. nervo, Sp. nervio, F. nerf; the latter is represented in ME.: see nerf n.]
I. 1. a. A sinew or tendon. In later use only poet. or in phr. to strain every nerve, to make the utmost (physical) exertion.
| 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 158 Thys ordur, vnyte, and concord, wherby the partys of thys body are, as hyt were, wyth senewys and neruys knyt togyddur. c 1605 Drayton Odes xiii. 30 Vp whose steepe side who swerues, It behoues t'haue strong Nerues. 1671 Milton Samson 1646 This utter'd, straining all his nerves, he bow'd. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 297 Before his tender Joints with Nerves are knit. 1736 Gray Statius ii. 7 He..Brac'd all his nerves, and every sinew strung. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 90 He that sold His country, or was slack when she required His every nerve in action and at stretch. 1818 Shelley Julian 425 Like some maniac monk, I had torn out The nerves of manhood by their bleeding root. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) viii. 184 We strained every nerve to reach the top. |
| fig. 1780 Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 251 We shall exert every nerve to assist you. 1860 Smiles Self Help 164 Lawrence and Montgomery..strained every nerve to keep their own province in perfect order. |
† b. [After L. use.] The penis.
Obs. rare.
| 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 138 Receiving so many blows a day with a bull's nerve until he was beaten to death. 1693 Dryden Juvenal x. 262 The limber Nerve, in vain provok'd to rise. 1693 ― Persius iv. (1699) 462. |
2. fig. a. in
pl. Those things, parts, or elements, which constitute the main strength or vigour
of something.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 53 Those that know the very Nerues of State. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 86 Not that he wanted (the nerves of war) mony. 1683 Argt. for Union 20 They have the Nerves of worldly Power, that is, banks of Money. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. xvi. I. 564 Prosperity had relaxed the nerves of discipline. 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. 301 Good laws well administered are..the nerves of the common weal. |
b. sing. in same sense. Also applied to persons.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 55 Agamemnon, Thou great Commander, Nerue, and Bone of Greece. 1682 Dryden & Lee Dk. Guise ii. ii, Ordnance, munition, and the nerve of war, Sound infantry. 1726 Cavallier Mem. i. 109 Money, which is the Nerve and Sinew of War. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 341 Hannibal had been the nerve and soul of the war. 1894 Illingworth Personality iii. 65 Morality, which is the very nerve of personality. |
c. pl. without
const. Resources.
rare—1.
| 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Parl. ii. 2 His Revenues; (the Nerves with which he should support this unnaturall civill warre). |
3. a. Strength, vigour, energy.
| 1605 Chapman, etc. Eastw. Hoe iii. i, Braue Gossip, all that I can do To my best Nerue, is wholy at your seruice. 1659 Milton Civ. Power Wks. 1851 V. 336 Having herin the scripture so copious and so plane, we have all that can be properly calld true strength and nerve. 1671 ― Samson 638 He led me on to mightiest deeds Above the nerve of mortal arm. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxii, Not..too near extreme wealth to slacken the nerve of labour. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. lvi. (1844) II. 207 Nerve was given liberally to our paddles. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. ix. (1897) I. 269 The Normans..added nerve and force to the system with which they identified themselves. |
b. transf. Texture (of wool).
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 144 Too long a continuance of the wool in the yolk water, hurts its quality very much... It is said then to have lost its nerve. |
c. Of cork: (see
quot.).
| 1878 Encycl. Brit. VI. 402/1 In the heating operation the surface is charred, and thereby the pores are closed up, and what is termed ‘nerve’ is given to the material. |
4. a. A sinew or tendon extracted from the body of an animal,
esp. as used for some purpose.
| 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 100 Pine or Deale boards, not fasten'd with nails, but sew'd together..commonly with Rain-deers nerves. 1802 Brookes' Gazetteer (ed. 12) s.v. Lapland, They prepare the nerves of the raindeer in such a manner as to make them serve for thread. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. 130 They would throw nerves or sinews into the fire. |
b. poet. [After L. use.] A bow-string.
| 1719 Young Busiris i. i, When a Persian arm Can thus with vigour its reluctance bend, And to the nerve its stubborn force subdue. 1791 Cowper Iliad viii. 371 Teucer had newly fitted to the nerve An arrow keen. 1818 Keats Endym. iv. 411 He tries the nerve of Phoebus' golden bow. |
| fig. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 623 Then like a bow long forced into a curve, The mind, released from too constrained a nerve, Flew to its first position. |
c. (See
quot. and Du Cange,
s.v. Nervus.)
| 1854 Wiseman Fabiola ii. xxi, Let this Lucianus be kept in the nerve (stocks) with his feet stretched to the fifth hole. |
† 5. Sc. A narrow band or strap of material used to ornament a garment.
Obs. rare—1.
After French use:
cf. nerve v. 1.
| 1531 Acc. Ld. H. Treas. Scotl. (1905) VI. 20 For xv elnis blak satyn..to be ane goune cuttit out with tway nervis of the selff. |
6. a. Bot. One of the ribs or fibres of vascular matter extending through the parenchyma of a leaf;
esp. the midrib.
| 1585 Higins tr. Junius' Nomencl. 113 Neruus. The nerue, sinew or string of a leafe, as in plantaine. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 474 There is an herb..the nerve whereof in the middle is red. 1671 Marten in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1694) 68 Through the middle of it run two black Stroaks or Nerves to the Stalk. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 180 The Leaves are smal and fine, growing by Couples on each Side of a Nerve or Rib. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 794 The nerve or keel does not extend to the extremity of the leaves. 1835 Lindley Introd. Bot. (1839) 129 If other veins similar to the midrib pass from the base to the apex of a leaf, such veins have been named nerves. 1863 M. J. Berkeley Brit. Mosses iii. 14 There is one central nerve of variable length and thickness, occasionally projecting far beyond the tip of the leaf. |
b. Ent. = nervure.
| 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 277 The nerves of the wings in almost all the Diptera, are perfectly distinct. |
7. Arch. (See
quots.)
A French sense,
perh. never in actual English use.
| 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Nerves, in architecture, denote the mouldings of projecting arches of vaults. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 589 Nerves, the mouldings of the groined ribs of Gothic vaults. 1850 Parker Gloss. Archit. (ed. 5) 325 Nerves, a term sometimes applied to the ribs and mouldings on the surface of a vault, but it is not technical. |
II. 8. a. A fibre or bundle of fibres arising from the brain, spinal cord, or other ganglionic organ, capable of stimulation by various means, and serving to convey impulses (
esp. of sensation or motion) between the brain, etc., and some other part of the body.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. viii. 21 Yet ha we A Braine that nourishes our Nerues. 1626 Bacon Sylva §400 An Eye..thrust forth, so as it hanged a pretty distance by the Visuall Nerve. 1656 tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 392 Certain spirits and membranes, which..involve the brain and all the nerves. 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 25 Cutting off a Nerve always causes the wasting of the Part to which that Nerve leads. 1744 Berkeley Siris §102 As the nerves are instruments of sensation, it follows that spasms in the nerves may produce all symptoms. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 340 Fallopius was the first who distinguished this nerve from the proper nerve of the voice. 1868 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) I. ii. iii. 207 A nerve is a thread of unstable nitrogenous substance..along which..there runs a wave of molecular change. 1873 Mivart Elem. Anat. 399 The spinal nerves arise in pairs from opposite sides of the spinal marrow. |
b. In non-scientific use, with reference to feeling, courage, etc. Phr.
to live on one's nerves: to lead an emotionally exhausting life.
| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster Introd., Light, I salute thee, but with wounded nerues. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 56 Chromatic tortures soon shall..Break all their nerves, and fritter all their sense. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 220 Those powers that..Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame. 1802 M. Edgeworth Angelina iv, Not the fittest companion in the world for a person of your ladyship's nerves. 1842 Tennyson Walking to Mail 95 What know we of the secret of a man? His nerves were wrong. 1879 Browning Martin Relph 56 We soldiers need nerves of steel! 1927 Daily Tel. 1 Nov. 7 The correspondence about the dramatic version of ‘The Secret Agent’..is almost interminable. One sees that Conrad lived on his nerves, as the French say, and that he took a secret delight in parading his petty cares. 1932 Auden Orators i. 16 Dare-devils of the soul, living dangerously upon their nerves. |
c. transf. and
fig.| 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 280 The political Nerves and Arteries, by which their several Parts..are united to one another. 1781 Cowper Table-T. 487 The Muse..pours a sensibility divine Along the nerve of every feeling line. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 126 The nerves of the faith of Israel were not unstrung. 1898 H. H. Furness Pref. Winter's Tale 13 In feeling the pulse of that public he had as a guide the most sensitive of nerves: the pocket. |
d. pl. A disordered nervous system; nervousness.
Quots. ?1792 and 1839 perhaps belong in sense 8 b.
| ? 1792 I. Pigot Let. in A. Leslie Mrs. Fitzherbert (1960) ix. 87 She says her spirits are so damped and her nerves so bad, she must go out to..soothe her mind by change of scene and country. 1839 Dickens Let. 5 Mar. (1965) I. 519 Recovering from an attack ‘on the Nerves’. 1890 Spectator 5 Apr., As to his dying of ‘nerves’, that is a story sure to be circulated about anybody whose life it is necessary to guard. 1892 M. North Recoll. Happy Life I. 107 That tree..always gave me a fit of nerves. 1914 G. W. Young From Trenches vii. 143 The control of the population is admirable in its restraint. We have no ‘nerves’ here yet. 1920 H. Crane Let. 23 Nov. (1965) 46 I'm sorry to know you are having such an ordeal of ‘nerves’. 1948 A. Christie Taken at Flood i. i. 20 The poor girl was blitzed and had shock from blast... She's a mass of nerves. |
e. Phr.
to get on one's nerves: to (begin to) affect one with irritation, impatience, fear, or the like.
| 1903 ‘C. E. Merriman’ Lett. from Son to his Self-Made Father vi. 75 I've worried a lot since you went away. The business seems to have got on my nerves. 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air iv. 125 This flying gets on one's nerves. Ibid. v. 174 All this looking down and floating over things and smashing up people, it's getting on my nerves. 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 155/2 Sometimes I hate this accursed country... It gets on one's nerves at times. 1920 B. C. Cronin Timber Wolves ii. 34 Hotel hogs, I call 'em. Come in and jolly a chap as if they owned the whole joke. Gets on your nerves when you've been out of your bed all night. 1941 A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall xi. 276 The siege..got on people's nerves. 1959 T. S. Eliot Elder Statesman iii. 99, I remember, when I came home for the holidays How it used to get on my nerves, when I saw you Always sitting there with your nose in a book. 1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek vii. 118 Alice and I are really close, even if we do get on each other's nerves sometimes. |
f. war of nerves: the use of hostile or subversive propaganda to undermine morale and cause confusion and uncertainty; psychological warfare.
| 1940 Ann. Reg. 1939 81 The British public..did not allow the ‘war of nerves’ organised by the Nazi Government to interfere in the least with its August holiday. 1953 E. Simon Past Masters iv. ii. 223 War of nerves... Best thing to do is take no notice. 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry ii. 26 Recent threats of conflicts have produced, e.g., cold war and war of nerves. |
9. a. Nervous fibre.
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 596/1 The influence which nerve exerts upon muscle to provoke it to contraction. 1877 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 257 Tease out a bit of fresh nerve in..sodic chloride. |
| fig. 1778 F. Burney Evelina lxiv, ‘Your Ladyship's constitution..is infinitely delicate’. ‘Indeed it is... I am nerve all over!’ 1855 Prescott Philip II, i. (1857) 79 Paul seemed to be always in a state of nervous tension. ‘He is all nerve’, the Venetian minister..writes of him. |
b. An attack or fit of nervousness.
| 1815 Jane Austen Emma xi, She..had many fears and many nerves. |
10. a. Courage or coolness in exciting or dangerous circumstances; boldness, assurance.
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. iv. ii. (1820) 365 He..spoke forth like a man of nerve and vigor. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. xiii, You have nerve enough, you know, for anything. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 37 O iron nerve to true occasion true! 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxvii. 456 Do you think you have nerve to cut this hook out of my finger? |
b. colloq. Audacity, impudence, cheek. Esp. in
phr. to have a nerve or to have the nerve to.
| 1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 6 Aug. 3/3 Oh, this is a nerve, sure. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 84/2 Nerve (Eton), impudence. a 1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xx. 352 More money!.. You have got a nerve!—when factories are shutting down everywhere. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 5 Apr. 4/2 No one had the nerve to claim this should be done, because it would have been laughed out of court immediately. 1925 Wodehouse Sam the Sudden xxv. 219 ‘You mean to tell me that you had the—the nerve—the insolence—.’ He gulped. 1929 [see honestly adv. 2 b]. 1930 V. Sackville-West Edwardians vi. 220 The cabby exclaimed that the young toff had a nerve and no mistake. 1942 Q. Jrnl. Speech Feb. 6/2 In low brow programs..we note..‘you've got a nerve’. 1975 S. Brett Cast xiii. 136 Joanne Menzies looked at him coolly. ‘You've got a nerve.’ |
11. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attributive, as
nerve-ache,
nerve-action,
nerve-branch,
nerve-bulb,
nerve-bundle,
nerve-chain,
nerve-channel,
nerve-end,
nerve-network,
nerve-pill,
nerve-test,
nerve-tester,
nerve-tip,
nerve-world, etc.
The number of such combs.,
esp. in recent medical works, is very great; only some of the earlier or more prominent examples are illustrated here.
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 217 *Nerve-ache of the face. |
| 1889 Mivart Truth 266 The other *nerve-actions, which are not felt. |
| 1877 M. Foster Physiol. iii. i. 344 The sensory nerves..can readily be traced in the mixed *nerve-branches. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 678 The granular mass..is probably a sensory *nerve-bulb. |
| 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. (1878) 279 The connective tissue of the *nerve-bundles. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 505 A ventral sinus..lodging the *nerve-chain. |
| 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. 15 Feb. 166/1 Muscular repose means that the muscles are relaxed and the *nerve-channels free. 1951 J. M. Fraser Psychol. ii. 13 A message..will be sent along a nerve-channel to the brain. |
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 781 Those who study *nerve diseases. |
| 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 456 Producing effects in the same *nerve-element. |
| 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 182 It is doubtful whether it affects the motor *nerve-ends. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 159 In the silence Dinah's nerve ends crept, contracted, listening for the guns, the sirens. 1969 Listener 22 May 733/3 In Debussy's case this led to Impressionism, which lived at the nerve ends. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 498 The antennæ lodge peculiar *nerve-endings. |
| 1855 Q. Rev. XCVI. 110 There is already a mind to attend to the *nerve excitation. |
| 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 19 The internal..layer is composed of delicate *nerve-fibrils. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 594/1 The *nerve filaments are simply placed in juxta-position. |
| 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 132 The chain of *nerve ganglia. |
| 1878 J. Fiske in N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 33 The causation of consciousness by *nerve-matter. |
| Ibid. 36 The *nerve-motion, in disappearing, is simply distributed into other nerve-motions. |
| 1947 Mind LVI. 57 In the nervous system the ‘variables’ are mostly impulse-frequencies at various points in the *nerve-network. 1972 Sci. Amer. Feb. 88/2 The major part of the sympathetic nerve network stimulates the secretion of norepinephrine. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 505/1 Carter's little liver pills... *Nerve pills. 1975 M. Crichton Great Train Robbery xiii. 78 He was forced to down two Carter's Little Nerve Pills and some tincture of opium for his pain. |
| 1879 Calderwood Mind & Br. iii. 41 A network of controlling fibres, known as a *nerve-plexus. 1877 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 241 Divide the *nerve-roots of the spinal cord. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 593/1 Bound together by fibrous membrane, the *nerve-sheath. |
| 1884 J. Tait Mind in Matter (1892) 123 The unit of sensation is a *nerve-shock. |
| 1876 Bernstein Five Senses 23 In the healed scar the *nerve-stems are often irritated. |
| 1876 Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 101 Something like the ‘*nerve-storm’ of migraine swept the medulla oblongata. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 568 The..radial vessels lie beneath the corresponding *nerve structures. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 596/1 We have no evidence of any mingling of the true *nerve-substance with the sarcous elements. |
| 1872 Humphry Myology 7 The arrangement does not interfere with the *nerve-supply. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 29 May 8/3 (heading) A zoological *nerve-test. |
| 1894 Strand Feb. 119/1 A visit to this place is the finest and most complete *nerve-tester in the world! |
| 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. vi. 150 This must be because the number of sensations from the elementary *nerve-tips affected was too small. 1936 F. R. Leavis Revaluation v. 184 The sentiments and attitudes of the patriotic and Anglican Wordsworth..are external, general and conventional; their quality is that of the medium they are proffered in, which is..not felt into from within as something at the nerve-tips, but handled from outside. |
| 1868 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) I. i. i. 12 Were it the sole function of *nerve-tissue to originate motion. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 647/2 A very interesting form of *nerve-vesicle. |
| 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 35 Heat-waves, light-waves, *nerve-waves, etc. |
| 1890 *Nerve-world [see mind-world]. |
b. Objective, as
nerve-cutting,
nerve-destroying,
nerve-dissolving,
nerve-irritating,
nerve-lacerating,
nerve-racking,
nerve-rending,
nerve-shaking,
nerve-shattering,
nerve-stretching,
nerve-testing,
nerve-trying,
nerve-wracking;
nerve-wrackingly adv.; instrumental, as
nerve-drawn,
nerve-racked,
nerve-ridden,
nerve-shaken,
nerve-shattered,
nerve-worn,
nerve-wracked.
| 1831 Youatt Horse 110 The operation of neurotomy, or *nerve-cutting. |
| 1874 J. W. Long Amer. Wild-fowl 31 They must consequently have greater bone-smashing and *nerve-destroying effects. |
| 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 44 The *nerve-dissolving melody Flutter'd headlong from the sky. |
| 1937 V. Woolf Years 388 A queer face; knit up; *nerve-drawn; fixed. |
| 1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 162 The sounds are rather peace-giving than *nerve-irritating. |
| 1911 W. Owen Let. 17 Sept. (1967) 83 The *nerve-lacerating speech of the pompous vigilator. |
| 1933 A. N. Whitehead Adventures of Ideas xvi. 245 A red-irritation is prevalent among *nerve-racked people and among bulls. |
| 1812 Shelley Let. 27 Dec. (1964) I. 347 My removal from your *nerve racking & spirit quelling metropolis. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 22 Feb. 2/3 The nerve-racking work of the telephone-girls. 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 205/2 In all the large towns in Britain there is also far too much nerve-racking, unnecessary noise. 1973 Times 30 June 13/5 My own King Charles's head is the use of ‘nerve-wracking’ for ‘nerve-racking’. |
| 1897 Month Oct. 374 The next *nerve-rending sound which might occur. |
| 1892 E. Lawless Grania II. 7 He..seemed to be even more *nerve-ridden than usual. 1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xxi. 313 Adrian..had already shown himself a husband too impatient and too nerve-ridden to endure for long so much irrational excitement at his side. 1939 D. Cecil Young Melbourne vi. 150 He [sc. Byron] was a raw, nerve-ridden boy of genius. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xiii, Men whose spirits..are *nerve-shaken, timorous, and unenterprising. |
| 1820 Keats Let. ? Feb. (1958) II. 262 The medicine I am at present taking..is of a *nerve-shaking nature. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 192 During breakfast their conduct is nerve-shaking. 1933 J. Cary Amer. Visitor vii. 88 Uli shrank away from the white men and uttered another nerve-shaking yell. |
| 1929 Observer 17 Nov. 11/3 Jean Jacques Bernard's interesting play..about a *nerve-shattered and unreasonably jealous husband. 1975 C. Dennis Somebody just grabbed Annie! 195 Close-up of a nerve-shattered Ilima. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 28 Sept. 4/2 The work of the engine-driver and fireman is..by no means of the *nerve-shattering description that some would have us believe. 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1464/3 Marasco's nerve-shattering novel Burnt offerings. |
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 332 This case..was treated by *nerve-stretching. |
| 1973 D. Francis Slay-Ride vii. 80 A *nerve-testing isolation. |
| 1853 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 175 The more *nerve trying noise of a floundering stumble over a heap of stones. |
| 1792 J. Byng Torrington Diaries (1936) III. 5, I will not accord to the unnatural hours. *Nerve-worn, and with reason, I must..take the field. 1922 D. H. Lawrence Let. 15 May (1932) 547 In many ways it [sc. Australia] is older: more nerve-worn. |
| 1911 E. Pound Canzoni 46 How our modernity, *Nerve-wracked and broken, turns Against time's way. 1925 Nerve-wracked [see gone ppl. a. 3 b]. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 9 Feb. 5/1 Despite his *nerve-wracking experience, he had the courage to endeavour to return to search for him. 1973 Guardian 28 June 11/1 The worst thing is getting a call in the middle of the night saying that the windows of my husband's business have been blown in again... It's nerve wracking sitting here. |
| 1963 A. Ross Australia 63 i. 42 The handsome and the hazardous were jostling *nerve-wrackingly together. |
12. Special combs., as
nerve block,
blocking, inactivation of the nerve supplying a particular area of the body,
esp. by use of a local anæsthetic;
nerve-canal,
-cavity, the pulp-cavity of a tooth;
nerve cell, one of the cells composing the cellular element of nervous tissue; also
attrib.;
nerve-centre, a group of ganglion-cells closely connected with one another and associated in performing some function; also
fig.;
nerve-collar = nerve-ring;
nerve-cord, a cord of nervous tissue;
nerve current, a signal propagated along a nerve; a series of nerve impulses;
nerve-deafness, deafness due to disorder of the acoustic nerve;
nerve-doctor, a specialist in the treatment of nervous diseases;
nerve-fibre, the fibrous matter composing the nervous system, or one of the thread-like units of this;
nerve-force, the force supposed to be liberated in nerve-cells;
nerve gas, any poisonous gas or vapour that has a weakening or paralysing effect on the nervous system,
esp. for use in warfare; also
fig.;
nerve-glue, neuroglia;
nerve impulse, a wave of excitation in a nerve fibre accompanied by a brief, temporary change in electrical potential, motion of which constitutes transmission of a stimulus along the fibre;
nerve-instruments, dentists' instruments for extracting or destroying a nerve, or for cleaning out the nerve-cavity (Knight, 1875);
nerve-knot, a ganglion; also
fig.;
nerve-needle, (
a) an æsthesiometer; (
b) a dental instrument (see the
quot. for
nerve-canal);
nerve net, a diffuse network of neurones found in cœlenterates, echinoderms, and other organisms which conducts excitations in all directions from the area stimulated;
† nerve-oil, an oil for strained sinews (
obs.);
nerve-paste, a paste used to kill the nerve of a tooth;
nerve-path, a route (assumed to be inborn or developed through use) by which a specific sensory stimulus or motor response is propagated through the nervous system;
nerve-patient, a patient suffering from a nervous disorder;
nerve physiology = neurophysiology s.v. neuro-; so
nerve-physiologist;
nerve-plate, a disk-like termination of a nerve;
nerve-ring, the nerve-cords and ganglia forming a ring round the œsophagus in worms and other animals;
nerve-route = nerve-path above;
nerve-sick a., suffering from nervous illness;
nerve-specialist = nerve-doctor above;
nerve-track, ‘the collective nerve-fibres which run through parts of the central nervous system to a distant collection of ganglion-cells’ (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1892); so
nerve-tract;
nerve-trunk, a main stem or chief nerve;
nerve-tube = nerve-fibre; so
nerve-tubule;
nerve-tunic, an investiture of nervous tissue;
nerve-twig, one of the ultimate ramifications of a nerve;
nerve war = war of nerves (sense 8 f); also
joc.;
nerve-winged a., having wings marked with nerves.
| 1923 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 29 Sept. 1079/1 (heading) The value of sacral *nerve block anesthesia in obstetrics. 1941 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 69 The simplest explanation of the blindness [due to pressure] is that the stoppage of circulation produces retinal anoxia and nerve-block, probably in the ganglionic layers. 1970 W. H. Parker Health & Dis. in Farm Animals viii. 94 Dehorning is the removal of horns already in existence on older cattle, essentially a veterinarian's job involving nerve block anaesthesia. |
| 1906 J. M. Patton Anaesthesia & Anaesthetics (ed. 2) xvii. 208 Bodine sees no reason why all major surgery should not be done by Corning's *nerve-blocking method of injecting directly into the nerves supplying the limb. 1972 Jrnl. Pharmacol. & Exper. Ther. CLXXXII. 442/1 The nerve blocking action of the insecticide, allethrin, is unique in the sense that it is highly dependent on temperature. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1521/2 Nerve-needle, a tool used for broaching out the *nerve-canal. |
| Ibid. s.v. Nerve Instruments, Instruments for excavating and filling *nerve-cavities. |
| 1858 G. H. Lewes Let. 19 July in G. S. Haight Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 469 It was so very amusing to find myself thinking of ‘*nerve cells’ amid the grand mountains, and of physiological processes on the shores of a lake. 1873 A. Flint Physiol. Man i. 18 The nerve-cells..are the only parts capable..of generating..the nerve-force. 1877 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 259 The nerve-cell layer. |
| 1868 Spencer Princ. Psychol. (1872) I. i. vi. 109 The *nerve-centre which is the seat of the sensation. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. ci. III. 418 Wall Street is the great nerve centre of all American business. 1910 Blackw. Mag. July 9/2 The nerve centres of London, such as the General Post Office, the Telephone Exchanges, the Bank of England,..the Railway Termini, and so on. 1930 Nerve-centre [see control room]. 1939 War Illustr. 29 Dec. 526 The superstructure is the nerve centre of the ship from which she is navigated and her gunfire controlled. 1942 D. Jenkins Nature of Catholicity ii. 48 This brings us to the doctrine of Reformation according to the Word of God which is the nerve-centre of the Reformed doctrine of the Church. 1959 Daily Tel. 30 Nov. 19/3 A ‘nerve centre’ opens to-day opposite Victoria Station for cross-Channel steamer car traffic. 1971 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird v. 71, I was being dragged..through the nerve-centre [sc. Miami] of the Sunshine State. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 119 The buccal mass, the *nerve-collar and the columellar muscles. |
| 1877 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 150 Tease out a bit of..fresh *nerve-cord in water. |
| 1879 Mind IV. 317 All feeling whatever..seems to depend for its physical condition not on simple discharge of *nerve-currents, but on their discharge under arrest, impediment or resistance. 1951 J. M. Fraser Psychol. ii. 13 These cells..send a nerve-current along the olfactory nerve to the brain. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 805 Symptoms of *Nerve deafness. |
| 1892 W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 327 The men who care little or nothing for ultimate rationality, the biologists, *nerve-doctors, and psychical researchers. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 592/1 Remak and others describe three distinct parts in the *nerve fibre. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. §23 The conducting power of nerve fibre. 1872 Huxley Physiol. 212 Every fraction of a tone..is represented by its separate nerve-fibre. |
| 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 38 The *nerve-force..must be accounted..as the highest of all the forms of vital force. 1877 E. R. Conder Bas. Faith ii. 83 When the nerve force ceases to act, all manifestation of the presence of mind ceases. |
| 1940 Sun (Baltimore) 13 May 1/5 A specialist in nervous diseases and a chemist..said tonight that a ‘*nerve gas’, reported possibly used by the Nazis..was ‘entirely within the range of possibility’. 1960 Koestler Lotus & Robot ii. xii. 274 Once a balm for self-inflicted bruises, it [sc. Zen Buddhism] has become a kind of moral nerve-gas. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxi. 141 They won't be using kids' stuff like this bomb. It will be area saturation with suitable nerve gases. 1968 Observer 16 June 9/1 The nerve gases are liquids which are most lethal when inhaled as fine droplets, but can also be absorbed through the skin. 1975 Times 6 Jan. 1/2 MPs are to question ministers about a report that the formula for a lethal nerve gas has been taken off the secret list. |
| 1879 Calderwood Mind & Br. ii. 25 The cells are packed together in a glutinous substance, which Virchow has named *nerve-glue. |
| 1900 Nature 26 July 291/1 The futility of those hypotheses which would explain the passage of the *nerve-impulse as a mere propagated polarisation. 1927 Haldane & Huxley Animal Biol. v. 123 (caption) Diagram to illustrate the course of nerve-impulses concerned in a spinal reflex. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IX. 52/2 The rate of conduction of nerve impulses varies in proportion to the diameter of the nerve fiber. 1971 J. Z. Young Introd. Study Man ii. 28 This is best known for nerve cells, whose signals the nerve impulses (action potentials) are propagated by serial breakdown of the charged surface membrane, allowing sodium to enter and potassium to leave. |
| 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 232/1 The nervous system of the arachnida is ganglionic, consisting of *nerve-knots (ganglia). 1886 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. I. 113 Casterbridge was..but the pole, focus, or nerve-knot of the surrounding country life. |
| 1904 C. S. Sherrington in Nature 8 Sept. 460/1 We can distinguish two main types of [nervous] system according to the mode of union of the conductors.—(i.) the *nerve-net system, such as met in Medusa and in the walls of viscera, and (ii.) the synaptic system, such as the cerebro-spinal system of Arthropods and Vertebrates. 1942 O. Larsell Anat. Nervous System i. 3 The older view of the nerve net as a conduction apparatus for diffusing nerve impulses by protoplasmic continuity of the nerve cell processes has largely yielded to the conception of a synaptic system, even in coelenterates. 1968 D. W. Wood Princ. Animal Physiol. x. 214 The nerve nets found in phyla other than the Coelenterata are mostly peripheral to a more organized central nervous system. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 277 Anoint his body all over with *Nerve oil. |
| 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. xi. 458 A downward *nerve-path is thus kept constantly open during concentrated thought. 1926 J. S. Huxley Essays in Popular Science vi. 65 The secretions of ovaries pick out and bring into action the nerve-paths appropriate to females, those of testes the paths appropriate to males. 1968 Biol. Abstr. XLIX. 2670/1 (heading) Age changes of the optic nerve path. |
| 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 818/1 Every medical practitioner..obtains an increasing number of *nerve-patients year after year. |
| 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. i. 5 In still another way the psychologist is forced to be something of a *nerve-physiologist. |
| 1860 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1859 ii. 166 (heading) Necessity of a reform in *nerve-physiology. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. ii. 23 The conception of all action as conforming to this type [sc. reflex] is the fundamental conception of modern nerve-physiology. 1927 J. S. Huxley Relig. without Revelation iv. 135 How, precisely, these experiences are generated, psychology and nerve-physiology must learn and tell us. |
| 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 187/1 Strands connecting dorsal *nerve-plate with outer wall of collar. |
| 1878 Bell Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 110 It is clear that they represent sensory organs from their intimate connection with the *nerve-ring. |
| 1890 A. Hill tr. H. Obersteiner's Anat. Central Nerv. Organs 162 One must be very careful in assigning an object to *nerve-routes, especially when they exceed an internode..in length. 1933 A. N. Whitehead Adventures of Ideas xiv. 276 Also incipient sense-percepta may be forming themselves in the nerve-routes. |
| 1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris iii. 173 His thin, *nerve-sick face clouded over with a fine cold distaste. 1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xv. 219 Poor child, to be born of quarrelling, nerve-sick parents into a home of strife. |
| 1889 *Nerve-specialist [see specialist 1]. 1920 A. J. Cummings in ‘W.N.P. Barbellion’ Last Diary p. xxx, I persuaded him..to see a first-class nerve specialist. |
| 1877 M. Foster Physiol. iii. i. 344 When the anterior roots are cut, the motor nerves alone degenerate, and can be similarly diagnosed in a mixed *nerve-tract. |
| 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 463 If all the *nerve-trunks supplying the organ on one side be divided. 1893 A. S. Eccles Sciatica 69 Inflammation of the nerve-trunk or its branches. |
| 1839–47 Todd's Cycl. Anat. III. 592/1 It is evident that the contained matter of the *nerve-tube is extremely soft. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 803 The nerve-tubes of the white matter were natural. |
| 1893 A. S. Eccles Sciatica 31 Where there is a change in the *nerve-tubules themselves. |
| 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 184/1 An elongate animal, with a plexiform *nerve-tunic. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 20 If we find..the *nerve-twigs of the limb affected. |
| 1941 Argus (Melbourne) Week-End Mag. 15 Nov. 1/4 *Nerve war, grousing or complaining to get things done. 1942 Ann. Reg. 1941 212 The firm stand..against Japanese blackmail, cajolery, threats, and ‘nerve-war’. 1943 Daily Tel. 26 Aug. 6 Berliners are really panicky... The nerve war has reached a climax which I never thought possible. 1946 F. Williams Press, Parliament & People iii. 61 They [sc. the Germans]..convinced themselves that the message had been put out deliberately as part of a clever piece of nerve war to mislead them and try to make their defence forces jumpy. |
| 1884 Leisure Hour Dec. 742/1 The well-marked, *nerve-winged, solitary ant-lion. |
Add:
[8.] [d.] For ‘nervousness’ read: ‘nervousness,
esp. that suffered (by an actor, sportsman, etc.) before a performance’.
| 1960 J. Betjeman in London Mag. Nov. 13 Pre-prize day nerves? Or too much bitter beer? 1986 Your Horse Sept. 23/3 It's a complicated business analysing ‘nerves’. 1987 Even. Telegraph (Grimsby) 7 Dec. 12 Just as nerves began to affect all four players Henry cleared the colours in the seventh frame. |
▪ II. nerve, v. (
nɜːv)
Also 6
nerue,
nerf.
[In sense 1, ad. F. nerver (Godef. Compl.); otherwise from the n.] † 1. trans. Sc. To ornament with threads or narrow bands of some material.
Obs. rare.
| 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xlvii, Mony entrappit steid with silkis seir, Mony pattrell neruit with gold I tald. 1532 Acc. Ld. H. Treas. Scotl. (1905) VI. 24 For foure elnis blak taffateis to nerve and geit them [sc. hose]. 1532 Id. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials I. 276* Ane pair of hoise... Item, for ij elnis taffate, to draw þame and nerf þame. |
2. To give strength or vigour to (the arm, etc.).
| a 1749 A. Hill (T.), Thou, last, Tremendous goddess, nerve this lifted arm! 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 105 The mingling currents..Nerve the strong arm, and tinge the blushing cheek. a 1810 Shelley M. Nicholson Fragm. 3 How long will horror nerve this frame of clay? 1870 Bryant Iliad II. xv. 104 He nerved their limbs With vigor ever new. |
| fig. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Literature, A good writer..makes haste to chasten and nerve his period by English monosyllables. 1887 Bowden Virg. æneid iv. 452 Further to nerve her purpose to leave this world of the sun. |
3. To imbue with courage, to embolden.
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xiv, The word..nerves my heart, it steels my sword. 1849 Grote Greece ii. xxxix. (1862) III. 414 We find thus the Athenians nerved up to the pitch of resistance. 1877 Black Green Past. iii, A murmur of indignant repudiation nerved him to a further effort. |
| absol. 1842 Lytton Zanoni i. iii, So much that warmed, and animated, and nerved. 1890 Lowell To C. F. Bradford, Bracing essences that nerve To wait, to dare, to strive. |
b. refl. (also with
mind, etc.).
| 1821 Byron Two Foscari i. i, He hath nerved himself, And now defies them. 1829 Lytton Devereux i. iii, I think you have been now some years nerving your mind to the exertion. 1887 R. N. Carey Uncle Max xxvii. 212 His expression..was that of a man who was nerving himself to bear some great trouble. |
† 4. intr. To show signs of nervousness.
Obs.—1.
| 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. II. 197 Bless me, how dark it is! you ought to have had lamps! Come, child, how you nerve! |