nettle
/ˈnɛtəl/
nettle noun: most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle),.
Noun
nettle (plural nettles)
- Most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle),
- Urtica incisa (Australian nettle);
- wood nettle (Laportea canadensis);
- bull nettle, spurge nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus)
- Texas bull nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus),
- bull nettle (Cnidoscolus urens),
- Various species of the genus Dendrocnide
- small-leaved nettle (Dendrocnide photinophylla).
- scratchbush (Urera baccifera)
- tree nettle (Urtica ferox);
- rock nettles (Eucnide spp.);
- ball nettle (Solanum carolinense);
Show 12 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
- bull nettle, silver-leaf nettle, white horse-nettle (Solanum elaeagnifolium);
- western horse-nettle, robust horse-nettle (Solanum dimidiatum);
- horse-nettle (Solanum rostratum);
- hackberries (Celtis spp.).
- dead nettles, dumb nettles (Lamium spp.), particularly Lamium album, white nettle;
- false nettles (Boehmeria spp., family Urticaceae);
- flame nettles or painted nettles (Coleus spp.);
- hedge nettles (Stachys spp.);
- hemp nettles (Galeopsis spp.);
- horse nettle Agastache urticifolia,
- nilgiri nettles, Himalayan giant nettles (Girardinia diversifolia, family Urticaceae spp.).
- Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a jellyfish or sea nettle.
Verb
nettle (third-person singular simple present nettles, present participle nettling, simple past and past participle nettled)
- Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting, causing a rash in someone.
- The children were badly nettled after playing in the field.
- […] I am whipp’d and scourged with rods, / Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear / Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- To pique, irritate, vex or provoke.
- [T]his is no lavv unto the vvoof of the neat Retiarie Spider, vvhich ſeems to vveave vvithout tranſverſion, and by the union of right lines to make out a continued ſurface, vvhich is beyond the common art of Textury, and may ſtill nettle Minerva the Godeſſe of that myſtery.1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter II.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, pages 110–111
- His Miſtreſs: vvhoſe Miſtreſs, vvhat Miſtreſs; s'life hovv that little vvord has nettled me!1679 April 6 (date licensed; Gregorian calendar), A[phra] Behn, The Feign‘d Curtizans, or, A Nights Intrigue. A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page...
nettle meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
nettle in Tamil
- திசுப்பின்னல், வலை, செந்தொட்டு, பூனைக்காஞ்சொறிச் செடி வகை
nettle in Urdu
- to nettle, provoke, vex
- اشتعال دلانا iśte'āl dilānā
nettle in Bengali
- বিছুটি
nettle in Malayalam
- ചൊറിയണം, ചൊറി, ഇതുപോലുളള സസ്യം, പ്രകോപിപ്പിക്കുക, വെറുപ്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- nettle in Assamese
- চোৰাত sürat, চোৰাত পাত sürat pat
- nettle in Arabic
- قُرَّاص qurrāṣ, أَنْجَرَة ʔanjara, حُرَّيْق ḥurrayq
- nettle in Malay
- jelatang
- nettle in Persian
- گزنه gazne
- nettle in Vietnamese
- tầm ma
- nettle in Myanmar
- ဖက်ယား hpak-ya:
Examples of nettle in a sentence
- Williams was a little nettled at my Impatience […]1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXI”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]...
- Liu, whose political writings had nettled the Taiwanese authorities, was assassinated on October 15, last year, in Daly City […]1985, United States, Daily Report: People's Republic of China, numbers 180-189, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, page 42:
Forms of nettle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | nettles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | nettles |
| present participle | nettling |
| past participle | nettled |
| past | nettled |
Origin of nettle
From Middle English netle, netel, from Old English netle, netele, netel, from Proto-West Germanic *natilā (cognate with Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele (modern Dutch netel), German Nessel, Middle Danish nædlæ (“nettle”)), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *natǭ (of unknown origin, perhaps from the same source as net).
Words formed from nettle
- benettle
- deadnettle
- devil's nettle
- dwarf nettle
- European nettle tree
- fen nettle
- grasp the nettle
- hedgenettle
- hemp-nettle
- hemp nettle
- horsenettle
- nettle agent
- nettlebed
- nettlecloth
- nettle cloth
- nettle-fish
- nettle-leaf giant hyssop
- nettle-leaf horsemint
- nettle-leaf porterweed
- nettle-leaved goosefoot
- nettle-leaved horsemint
- nettlelike
- nettle-monger
- nettler
- nettle-rash
- nettle-rashed
- nettlesome
- nettlespurge
- nettle-tap
- nettle tree
- nettle tree butterfly
- nettlewort
- nettly
- red dead-nettle
- sea nettle
- stinging nettle
- stingless nettle
- stingy nettle
Phrases with nettle
Words that rhyme with nettle
Questions about nettle
- What does nettle mean?
- Nettle means most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle),.
- What is nettle in Tamil?
- Nettle in Tamil is திசுப்பின்னல், வலை, செந்தொட்டு. See Nettle meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use nettle in a sentence?
- Williams was a little nettled at my Impatience […]
- What part of speech is nettle?
- Nettle can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce nettle?
- Nettle is pronounced /ˈnɛtəl/.
- What is the plural of nettle?
- The plural of nettle is nettles.
Words near nettle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nettle (page history and authors); nettle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اشتعال دلانا (Urdu) (page history and authors); nettle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); nettle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nettle.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nettle.wav.
Cite this entry: “nettle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nettle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.