Word.ws English Dictionary

nerved

nerved is the simple past and past participle of nerve.

Adjective

nerved (comparative more nerved, superlative most nerved)

  1. (obsolete) Vigorous, strong; courageous.
    • Beſides, their pains and pleaſures are ſo dependent on outward circumſtances […] that they ſeldom act from the impulſe of a nerved mind, able to chooſe its own purſuit.1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume I, London: […]...
  2. (in-compounds) Having nerves of a specified kind.
    • a strong-nerved hero
  3. (in-compounds, often) Having one or more principal veins, especially of a leaf.
    • The leaf was palmately nerved.

Meaning of nerve

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To give courage.
    • May their example nerve us to face the enemy.
    Synonyms:
    nerve up
  2. (transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.
    • The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.
  3. (informal, transitive) To perform a neurectomy on (someone or something).
    • She has been trying everything (wedge pads, bar shoes, etc.) and he is still dead lame. Someone has suggested nerving him, which (I believe - correct me if I am wrong!) involves cutting the main nerve in his foot so he can be ridden without pain.1993 January 8, Penny E. Breyer, “Net wisdom needed on nerving”, in rec.equestrian (Usenet), archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025
  4. (informal, rare, transitive) To get on (someone’s) nerves; to annoy, irritate, or bother (someone).
    • I guess, my previous message never came in the net..so again: (hope, i don't nerve anyone) We want to combine different LAN's via fiberoptic cable (Monomode) to the Internet.1996 July 1, Tuennes, “FDDI or Ethernet or what?”, in comp.dcom.lans.ethernet (Usenet), archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025
  5. (informal, intransitive, rare) To be nervous.
    • Mathias slowly leads his hand down to the holster... yeah, cool steel... his fingers wrap around the grip of his Smith & Wesson's, dragging it out, aiming and... In other words: Stop nerving, damiac14!1997 May 8, Mathias Schiffer, “Damiac14's Page Updated, and improved!”, in comp.lang.basic.visual.misc (Usenet), archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025

See all 15 meanings of nerve

Forms of nerved

comparativemore nerved
superlativemost nerved

Origin of nerved

From nerve + -ed.

Words formed from nerved

Phrases with nerved

Questions about nerved

What does nerved mean?
Nerved means vigorous, strong; courageous.
What is nerved the simple past and past participle of?
Nerved is the simple past and past participle of nerve.
What part of speech is nerved?
Nerved is an adjective.

Words near nerved in the dictionary

  1. nerve-wracking
  2. nerve-wracks
  3. nerve-wreck
  4. nerve-wrecking
  5. nerve-wrecks
  6. nerved
  7. nerved out
  8. nerved up
  9. nerveless
  10. nervelessly
  11. nervelessness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nerved (page history and authors); nerve (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “nerved.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nerved. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.