nerve

noun

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

   “The nerves can be seen through the skin.”

   “Like her I go; I cannot stay; ⁠I leave this mortal ark behind, A weight of nerves without a mind, And leave the cliffs, and haste away […]”

2. (colloquial, nonstandard)A neuron.
3. A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.

   “Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.”

4. Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.

   “He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.”

   “He hasn't the nerve to tell her he likes her.”

   “You got a lot of nerve / To say you are my friend / When I was down / You just stood there grinning”

   “A trip to the whistling, fire-cracking Stadio San Paolo is always a test of nerve but Wenger's men have already outplayed the Italians once.”

5. Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.

   “The web-team found git-sed is really a time and nerve saver when doing mass changes on your repositories”

   “He led me on to mightiest deeds, / Above the nerve of mortal arm.”

6. (in-plural)One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche.

   “All these rationalizations for asinine behavior are getting on my nerves.”

   “His nerves could no longer handle the worry.”

7. (in-plural)Mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions.

   “Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test; she was a bundle of nerves.”

   “Put me in the hospital for nerves and then they had to commit me”

8. The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.
9. (obsolete)Sinew, tendon.

   “Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them.”

   “Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay, My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh, And charg'd my men, as they from fate would fly, Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.”

10. A particular simplicial set constructed from a category.

verb

1. (transitive)To give courage.

   “May their example nerve us to face the enemy.”

   “The yellow-bearded Mailey, the old warrior, scarred with many combats and eager for more, stood beside his wife, the gentle squire who bore his weapons and nerved his arm.”

   “And how I strained my ears, and nerved my hands and limbs, beginning to twitch with convulsive movements, which I feared might betray me!”

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

   “The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.”

   “The shock nerved her, and she ran aimlessly till she fell, and for a time lay, but making a barrier of her arms, that the child should not be crushed.”

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.”

   “You can't nerve a hoof and I didn't realize that the cannon bone where the nerving takes place is not part of the leg.”

   “Her instructor was trying to convince me that her horse's tail "needed" to be nerved.”

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.”

   “No way was I assured, but after that the doctor refused to answer anymore questions. Instead, he wouldn’t stop nerving me to give him a guided tour of the berserker.”

   “Do not nerve others: Of course it helps to talk to others. But just when you've got a lot of information, that can be annoying.”

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!”

   “use the extrapolar solution, don't nerve.”

   “Speaking of Camden, I pulled off I-676 once to clean my windshield on the side of some surface street before turning around to shoot the Ben Franklin Bridge Westbound and I must say I was a bit nervous knowing the reputation, and I don't "nerve" easily.”

   “Broadband Quality :) Stop nerving!!!”