nerve

[[t]nɜ͟ː(r)v[/t]]

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nerves, nerving, nerved

1) N-COUNT Nerves are long thin fibres that transmit messages between your brain and other parts of your body.

...spinal nerves.

...in cases where the nerve fibres are severed.

2) N-PLURAL: usu poss N If you refer to someone's nerves, you mean their ability to cope with problems such as stress, worry, and danger.

Jill's nerves are stretched to breaking point...

I can be very patient, and then I can burst if my nerves are worn out.

3) N-PLURAL You can refer to someone's feelings of anxiety or tension as nerves.

I just played badly. It wasn't nerves.

Syn:

nervousness

4) N-UNCOUNT Nerve is the courage that you need in order to do something difficult or dangerous.

The brandy made him choke, but it restored his nerve...

He never got up enough nerve to meet me.

Syn:

courage

5) VERB If you nerve yourself to do something difficult or frightening, you prepare yourself for it by trying to be brave. [WRITTEN]

[V pron-refl to-inf] I nerved myself to face the pain.

Syn:

steel

6) PHRASE: V inflects If someone or something gets on your nerves, they annoy or irritate you. [INFORMAL]

Lately he's not done a bloody thing and it's getting on my nerves.

7) PHRASE: V inflects (disapproval) If you say that someone has a nerve or has the nerve to do something, you are criticizing them for doing something which you feel they had no right to do. [INFORMAL]

He told his critics they had a nerve complaining about Lithuania...

He had the nerve to ask me to prove who I was.

8) PHRASE: V inflects If you hold your nerve or keep your nerve, you remain calm and determined in a difficult situation.

He held his nerve to beat Australian Sandon Stolle in a five-set thriller on Court One...

We need to keep our nerve now.

Syn:

keep your cool

9) PHRASE: V inflects If someone is living on their nerves, they are continually worried and anxious about the situation that they are in. [BRIT]

Eileen, mother of three, had been living on her nerves for some considerable time.

10) PHRASE: V inflects If you lose your nerve, you suddenly panic and become too afraid to do something that you were about to do.

The bomber had lost his nerve and fled.

Syn:

go to pieces, lose your cool

11) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that you have touched a nerve or touched a raw nerve, you mean that you have accidentally upset someone by talking about something that they feel strongly about or are very sensitive about.

Alistair saw Henry shrink, as if the words had touched a nerve...

The mere mention of John had touched a very raw nerve indeed.