▪ I. nettle, n.1
(ˈnɛt(ə)l)
Forms: 1 netele, (netel), 1–5 netle, 5 netel(le, netyl(le; 4–5 nettille, 4–6 -yll, 5 -yle, 5–6 -ylle, 6 -yl, -ill, -ell, 5–6 (8) nettel, 3– nettle.
[Common Teut.: OE. netele, netle (and netel) fem. = Fris. nettel, MDu. net(e)le, netel (Du. netel), MLG. net(t)ele, OHG. ne{zced}({zced})ila, -ela (MHG. ne{zced}{zced}ele, -el, G. nessel), MDa. næt(h)-, nædlæ, nedle (Da. nelde, nælde), MSw. netla, nätla (Sw. dial. nättla), and netsla, nesla (Sw. nässla, nässel-), Norw. netla, nesla, etc., Icel. netla:—OTeut. *natilōn-, a derivative (see -le 1) from a stem *nat- which appears in the synonymous OHG. na{zced}{zced}a, and in various Scand. forms, as Sw. dial. nata, näta, Norw. dial. nata, neta, not(a), etc., the relationship of which to each other is obsure.]
1. a. A plant of the genus Urtica, of which the commoner species (U. dioica, the Common or Great Nettle, and U. urens, the Small Nettle) grow profusely on waste ground, waysides, etc., and are noted for the stinging property of the leaf-hairs.
The Greek, Italian, or Roman Nettle is U. pilulifera. With distinctive epithets the name of nettle is also given to a number of plants belonging to other genera, as blind, dea-, dead, deaf, red, white nettle; bee-, hedge-, hemp-, wood-nettle, which are treated under the first element or as main words.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. 2168 in O.E. Texts 107 Urticeta, netlan. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 310 Ᵹenim þysse wyrte seaw, þe man urticam, & oðrum naman netele nemneð. Ibid. II. 68 Smale netelan. Ibid. 86 Þa greatan netlan. a 1250 Owl & Night. 593 Among þe wede, among the netle, Þu syttest & singst. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7514 With-oute hys celle þornes wore And netles grewe, þat byten sore. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 461 As þe netle groweþ somtyme next þe rose. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiv. 65 Humbloks and nettles and swilk oþer wedes. 1481 Caxton Reynard 86, I haue nothyng but thystles and nettles. 1563 Mirr. Mag., Jane Shore iii, In groping flowers wyth Nettels stong we are. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 129 The first kind is now called..in English Greek or Romayne Nettel. 1631 E. Jorden Nat. Bathes xi. (1669) 84 The heat of the Sun is no more apt to breed a Nettle than a Dock. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 18 Thistles, Nettles, and a Thousand other Plants of no Use to us. a 1732 Gay Poems (1745) I. 167 Elder's early bud With nettle's tender shoots, to cleanse the blood. 1810 Crabbe Borough xviii. 296 At the wall's base the fiery nettle springs. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §1022 The young shoots of the common nettle are sometimes used like spinach or greens. 1890 Knowledge 1 Dec. 274/2 The common nettle occurs in two forms; the male plant which produces the pollen is quite distinct from that which bears the seeds. |
| transf. and fig. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 10 Out of this Nettle, Danger; we plucke this Flower, Safety. 1836 Gentl. Mag. V. 221 When he did apply the rod, it was generally formed of nettles. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Friendship Wks. (Bohn) I. 88 Better be a nettle in the side of your friend than his echo. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 39 Those driving nettles of frost that sting the cheeks. |
b. The Sea-nettle. (
Cf. red nettle 2.)
rare—1.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 444 The sea fish called a Nettle. |
c. = nettle-tree 2.
| 1889 J. H. Maiden Usef. Native Plants 192 Laportea gigas..‘Giant Nettle’. The poisonous fluid secreted from the foliage is very powerful. |
2. In phrases, etc.:
a. nettle in, dock out, see
dock n.1 3.
b. (See
quot. a 1700.)
c. on nettles, in fidgets, uneasy, excited.
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier B 3, All these women that you heare brawling..and skolding thus, have seuerally pist on this bush of nettles. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Nettled, He has pist upon a Nettle, he is very uneasy or much out of Humor. 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘Thou's p―d of a nettle this morning’, said of a waspish, ill-tempered person. 1892 Stevenson Across Plains i. 56 Some of them were on nettles till they learned your name was Dickson. |
d. to cast (throw) one's frock (or cassock) to the nettles [
= Fr. jeter le froc aux orties], to renounce the clerical life; also
transf. rare.
| 1916 W. J. Locke Wonderful Year xviii. 255 Now, indeed, he had burned his boats, thrown his cap over the windmills, cast his frock to the nettles. 1918 ― Rough Road vi. 58 Young parsons..threw their cassocks to the nettles and put on the full..panoply of war. |
3. ellipt. A nettle-tap moth (see 4 b).
rare—1.
| 1819 G. Samouelle Etymol. Compend. 385 Tortrix urticana. The barred Nettle. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., etc., as
nettle-bed,
nettle-blossom,
nettle-bush,
nettle-field,
nettle-juice,
nettle-leaf,
nettle-plant,
nettle-root,
nettle-seed,
nettle-stalk,
nettle-stem,
nettle-sting,
nettle-top; in sense ‘made with nettles’, as
nettle-beer,
nettle-broth,
nettle-kale,
nettle-porridge,
† nettle-pottage,
nettle-tea;
nettle-leaved,
nettle-like,
nettle-rough,
nettle-stung adjs.;
† nettle-sting vb. (hence
nettle-stinging).
| 1894 R. Kerr Pioneering in Morocco 205 Such commotion about a *nettlebed. |
| 1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 726/1 The stalks and leaves of nettles are employed..for the manufacture of a light kind of beer, called *Nettle beer. 1910 A. Bennett Clayhanger i. xii. 103, I won't have them apprentices drinking!.. Mrs. Nixon'll give 'em some nettle-beer if they fancy it. 1953 Word for Word (Whitbread & Co.) 12/2 Nettle beer, brewed from nettles as opposed to barley. |
| 1868 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art Add. 194 The beautiful circlet of the white *nettle blossom. |
| 1825 Jamieson, *Nettle-broth, broth made of nettles, as a substitute for greens. |
| 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 711 Hoc urticetum, a *netyl-bushe. |
| 1919 Chambers's Jrnl. May 298/2 In the boggy regions..people have begun to cultivate *nettle-fields. 1965 G. B. Schaller Year of Gorilla vii. 171 The guard and I cut a narrow trail through the stands of lobelias and nettle fields. |
| 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 35 Take an ounce of *Nettle juice. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 261 The causticity of Nettle juice is owing to the presence of bicarbonate of ammonia. |
| 1859 Brockie in J. Watson Bards of Border 195 The laich herd's hoose, Where I suppit *nettle kail. 1884 Chamb. Jrnl. 8 Mar. 147/1 The common stinging nettle..in Scotland is occasionally used for making a kind of soup termed nettle kail. |
| 1677 A. Horneck Gt. Law Consid. ii. (1704) 18 Who would suspect such things as needles, or sharp transparent pikes in a *nettleleaf? |
| 1789 J. Pilkington View. Derbysh. I. 351 *Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Great Throatwort, or Canterbury Bells. 1828 Sir J. E. Smith Eng. Flow. II. 11 Nettle-leaved Goosefoot. |
| 1777 Pennant Brit. Zool. IV. 49 Many species on being handled affect with a *nettle-like burning. |
| 1764 Museum Rust. II. 159 The fibres of the *nettle plant. |
| 1660–1 Pepys Diary 25 Feb., There we did eat some *nettle porridge. |
| 1776 T. Percival Ess. (1776) III. 258 The children breakfasted of *nettle-pottage, that is, oatmeal gruel with fresh nettles boiled in it. |
| 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 36 Chew *Nettle root. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems I. 337 The thought I called a flower, grew *nettle-rough. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 355/1 *Nettyl-seede, gnydisperma. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 121 As touching Nettle seed, Nicander affirms, That it is a very counterpoison against Hemlock. 1643 J. Steer tr. Exp. Chyrurg. iii. 7 A sharpe and pricking pain, like as though the skin were rubbed with Nettle-seed. |
| 1684 Ray Phil. Lett. (1718) 175, I wish I had Assurance..that those Sorts of Linen..are made of *Nettle-Stalks. 1766 Museum Rust. VI. 429 Making cloth of Hop Binds and Nettle Stalks. |
| 1891 T. Hardy Tess liv, The pale and blasted *nettle-stems of the preceding year. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 337 Florid, itching, *nettle-sting wheals. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 30 Sept. 4/1 The dock-leaf..is useful as a remedy for nettle-sting. |
| 1598 E. Guilpin Skial. (1878) 40, I applaud my selfe For *nettle-stinging thus this fayery elfe. 1666 W. Boghurst Loimogr. (1894) 93 Little red superficiall pimples in clusters like nettle stinging. |
| 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 102 The leaf of the common dock I have found efficacious, if applied..to *nettle-stung legs. |
| 1758 Wesley Wks. (1872) XII. 203 *Nettle-tea..would do you more good than any other. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 62/2 ‘Nettle-tea’ is a popular remedy for many diseases. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 693/2 *Nettle-tops in the spring are often boiled and eaten by the common people. 1836–48 B. D. Walsh Aristoph., Knights i. iii, Like those who're fond of nettle-tops. |
b. Special combs.:
nettle battery, one of the stinging organs of a hydrozoon;
nettle-bird = nettle-creeper;
nettle-blight,
æcidium urticæ, a parasitic plant common on nettles (Ogilvie
Suppl. 1855);
nettle-bulb (see
quot.);
nettle butterfly,
Vanessa urticæ, whose larvæ feed on nettles;
nettle cell, a stinging cell;
† nettle cheese (see
quots.);
nettle-creeper, a name applied to the Whitethroat (
Sylvia cinerea), and the Golden Warbler (
Sylvia hortensis) from their nesting in hedge-bottoms among nettles;
nettle-docken, the common dock, which is used to relieve nettle-stings;
nettle-earnest Sc., downright earnest;
nettle-fever, urticaria (
Cent. Dict. 1890);
nettle-fish, a stinging jelly-fish (
ibid.);
nettle-geranium,
Coleus fruticosus;
nettle-grub, a stinging caterpillar injurious to the tea-plant (
Stand. Dict. 1895);
nettle-hemp = hemp-nettle s.v. hemp n. 5;
nettle-lichen, a skin disease (see
lichen n. 3);
nettle-monger, (
a) the Reed Sparrow or Reed Bunting; (
b) the Whitethroat; (
c) the Blackcap;
nettle-spring dial., nettle-rash;
nettle-tap (
moth), a moth which frequents nettle-beds;
nettle-thread, one of the stinging hairs of acalephs (
Cent. Dict. 1890);
nettle-tom dial., the White-throat;
nettle-weed U.S., a plant of the nettle family;
nettle-whip (see
quot.);
nettle-wort, (
a) a spurgewort of the genus
Acalypha; (
b) a plant of the nettle family;
nettle-yarn, the prepared fibre of nettles.
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 770 Cnidoblasts, from which new ‘*nettle batteries’ are derived in growth. |
| 1854 A. E. Baker Northampton Gloss. Add. II. 415 *Nettle-bird, the white-throat. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 783 Some Rhizostome genera also possess ‘*nettle-bulbs’, stalked processes with or without a terminal opening. |
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 211 The *Nettle tortoise-shell butterfly. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxix. III. 101 The eggs of..the nettle butterfly..when laid in summer are hatched in a few days. 1902 R. W. Chambers Maids of Paradise xiii. 222 The scarlet-banded nettle-butterflies flitted and hovered. |
| 1870 Nicholson Zool. 109 The ‘*nettle cells’ or ‘cnidæ’ of the Cœlenterata. 1896 tr. Boas' Text-bk. Zool. 107 Numerous ‘batteries’ of nettle cells. |
| 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. iv. 118 A very dainty *nettle Cheese, which is the finest summer Cheese which can be eaten... You shall lay [the curd] vpon fresh nettles and couer it all ouer with the same. 1694 Ladies' Dict. 155/1 Cheese, of which there are two kinds, Morning-Milk-Cheese, Nettle Cheese. |
| 1817 T. Forster Nat. Hist. Swallows (ed. 6) 79 Sylvia atricapilla, Black-cap, Haychat, *Nettlecreeper, or Nettlemonger. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXV. 364/2 The White Throat..is seen..among weeds and nettles, whence one of its provincial names is the Nettle Creeper. |
| 1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karp. 234 The common *nettle-docken, the stuff that no creature will eat. |
| 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck xiii, Ane canna speak a word but it is taen in *nettle-earnest. |
| 1860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 67 Two very luxuriant *nettle-geraniums. 1597–1744 *Nettle-hemp [see hemp n. 5]. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 432 The Urticose or *Nettle Lichen is, perhaps, the most distressing form of all the varieties. |
| 1712 Mortimer Northampt. 428 The Reed Sparrow..is found upon Willows and Bushes by our Brook-sides, as also upon Bunches of Nettles; and is therefore called the *Nettlemonger by some. 1831 Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict. 42 The provincial names of Mock-nightingale, Nettle-creeper, Nettle-monger. |
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 364 Tortrix lutosa. The early *Nettle-tap. Ibid. 442 Tortrix Oxyacanthæ. The Autumn Nettle-tap. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXIV. 597/1 Flitting with a very peculiar flight over the tops of nettles, and thence termed Nettle-taps. |
| 1830 in W. Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 320 The sweet and soft voice of the white-throat or *nettle-tom. |
| 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xix. 159 They gathered a peculiar species of nettle, (called there *nettle-weed,) which they succeeded in dressing like flax. 1867 ‘T. Lackland’ Homespun i. 18 Their blackened skeletons..overgrown with nettleweeds and long grasses. |
| 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 783 ‘*Nettle-whips’..are elongated funnel-shaped openings,..beset with digitelli. |
| 1834 Miller's Dict. Gard. 46 Acalypha.., *Nettle Wort. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 261 Nettleworts will then be easily known from Morads and Hempworts, which have a hooked embryo. |
| 1885 J. S. Stallybrass tr. Hehn's Wand. Plants & Anim. 469 The Germans also made nets of *nettle-yarn. |
▪ II. ˈnettle, n.2 [f. nettle v.] A state of uneasiness or impatience.
| 1723 Dk. Wharton True Briton No. 60 II. 516 Trebellius, you may be sure somewhat upon the Nettle, addresses himself to the Favourite. 1792 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 487 Congress..are extremely tedious in their debates..and, at the same time, all in a nettle to rise and adjourn. |
▪ III. ˈnettle, n.3 variant of
knettle,
knittle.
| 1841 Dana Seaman's Man. 43 Take two parts of different yarns and twist them up taut into nettles... Lay half the nettles down [etc.]. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. x. (ed. 2) 360 Nettle stuff. |
▪ IV. nettle, v. (
ˈnɛt(ə)l)
Forms: 5
nettil,
nettyl(le, 5–7
netle, 6
nettel(l,
nettyll, 6–
nettle.
[f. nettle n.1 Cf. MDu. netelen (Du. nettelen), G. nesseln.] 1. trans. To beat or sting (a person or animal) with nettles.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 355/1 Netlyn, urtico. 1483 Cath. Angl. 253/2 To Nettylle, vrticare. 1530 Palsgr. 644/1, I nettyll, je ourtie. If a horse be well nettelled under the tayle he wyll kycke jolyly. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 240, I am whipt & scourg'd with rods, Netled, and stung with Pismires. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme i. xv. 71 To nettle him with the strongest and most stinging Nettles that you can get. 1670 Ray in Phil. Trans. V. 2064 Ants, if they get into peoples clothes,..will cause a smart and tingling, as if they were netled. 1882 R. Holland in N. & Q. 6th Ser. VI. 54 It is customary in Cheshire to punish those who do not wear a sprig of oak by nettling them. |
b. refl. To get (oneself, one's hands, etc.) stung by nettles.
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills II. 284 Like Boy that had nettl'd his Breech. 1869 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 267, I worked hard at lighting a fire, nettling my hands in gathering fuel. 1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 111 I nettled myself badly. |
c. (Also
absol.) To sting as a nettle does.
| 1858 Lewes Sea-side Stud. 149 If the capsules are the nettling organs, why do they not nettle in those parts where they are most abundant? 1879 S. Lanier Poems (1884) 92 A flower That clung with pain and stung with power, Yea, nettled me, body and mind. |
2. To irritate, vex, provoke, pique.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 82 She nettled him. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 683 The Erle of Warwicke..toke many riche ships of the Duke of Burgoyns countries, (which sore netteled the Duke). 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster i. ii, I know this nettles you now, but answere me. 1668 Dryden Even. Love i. ii, She has nettled me; would I could be revenged on her! 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 211 This last discourse nettled me. 1761 F. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph II. 319 This foolish woman's behaviour nettled me extremely. 1814 I. D'Israeli Quarrels Auth. (1867) 308 A ridiculous story..nettled Pope more than the keener remonstrances. 1859 Masson Milton I. 618 Cottington would now and then nettle his Grace by a jibe. |
| absol. 1726 Swift To Lady Wks. 1751 XIV. 229 But with Raillery to nettle, Sets your Thoughts upon their Mettle. |
b. In
pa. pple. Irritated, vexed, provoked, annoyed. Const.
at,
by,
with, etc.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 737 Now is ser Nicollas anoyed & nettild with ire, As wrath as a waspe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxx. 169 She that is most meke..can rase vp a reke if she be well nettyld. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 19 He beyng netteled with these uncurteous..prickes & thornes. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. viii. (1599) 310 Cæsar being netled by so many infamies..received. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 267 Cæsar, throughly nettled at the newes, resolved [etc.]. 1672 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 410 Sir Philip..knew not so much and is well netled. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 171 Essex, nettled to be both beaten in fight, and outdone in conduct, decamps. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia ii. iv, The haughty Baronet, extremely nettled, forced his way on. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xiii, Not a little nettled to observe that they were enjoying the scene from a snug corner. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xxvii, A little nettled by her contemptuous tone. |
c. intr. To become irritated or annoyed.
rare. Also
nettle up (
dial.).
| 1810 Splendid Follies II. 31 Milford..began to nettle at the fidgets of his visitor. 1875 Waugh Owd Cronies ii, Sally blushed and nettled up. |
3. To prick or stir up; to incite, rouse.
| a 1592 Greene George a Greene Wks. (Rtldg.) 257/2 There are few fellows in our parish so nettled with love as I have been of late. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars ix. 46 His Souldiers, that were..nettled with the example and danger of their General. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. lii. 150 He rode and nettled his prancing steed in front of my door. |
4. To make sharp, to intensify.
rare—1.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 4 Delays so lingering dampt her joys, And expectation nettled woe. |