| 释义 |
nettlesome, a.|ˈnɛt(ə)lsəm|
[f. nettle n.1 or v. + -some.]
Easily nettled, irritable.
1766Life of Quin iv. (repr.) 24 He was a native of Wales, and was not the least nettlesome of his countrymen. 1828Blackw. Mag. XXIV. 22 He..gets, if not mettlesome,..very nettlesome indeed. 1888Argosy Oct. 307 There is something highly attractive to that nettlesome insect [a wasp] in the folds of a surplice.
Add:2. Irritating, vexatious, irksome; also, difficult, awkward, tricky. Chiefly U.S.
a1961Newsweek in Webster s.v., Such nettlesome problems as traffic rules for orbiting spacecraft. 1969Time 31 Jan. 52/3 The giants of electricity hope to get their arms around the nettlesome new technologies. 1976Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 161/5 Whenever what they deemed to be a nettlesome point of usage arose, they took a poll of their panel. 1982Times 24 Nov. 6/7 There has been no movement in other, equally nettlesome problems, such as the current agricultural dispute with the EEC. 1984S. Landau Dictionaries vi. 239 The difficulty of distinguishing between lexical units and items in a nomenclature is especially nettlesome in specialized dictionaries. |