nervousadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈnəːvəs/, U.S.

/ˈnərvəs/

Forms: Middle English 1600s nervouse, Middle English–1600s neruous, 1600s– nervous, 1700s (1800s– English regional) narvous; U.S. regional 1800s nervious, 1800s nurvious, 1800s– narvous, 1900s– nerveous; also Irish English 1800s narvous, 1900s– narviss, 1900s– naviss (northern).

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin nervōsus.

Etymology: < classical Latin nervōsus sinewy, having tough fibres, vigorous, (of literary style) energetic, in post-classical Latin also sensitive (5th cent.), composed of nerves (from late 12th cent. in British sources), affecting the tendons or sinews (late 13th cent.) < nervus nerve n. + -ōsus -ous suffix. Compare nervose adj., nervish adj. Compare Middle French, French nerveux sinewy, tendinous (13th cent.; also in Anglo-Norman as nervus in this sense), strong, vigorous (1549 in figurative use with reference to poetry, 1574 of a person, 1690 of a literary style), (of a person) effective (1636), of or belonging to the nerves (1678), (of leaves) having conspicuous veins or ribs (1749), (of insects) having wings with veins of a different colour from the background (1764), Portuguese nervioso (13th cent.), Italian nervoso (a1320), Spanish †nervoso (1607; 14th cent. as nervioso), German nervös (first half of the 18th cent. in sense ‘strong, robust’, second half of the 18th cent. in sense ‘relating to the nerves’; mid 17th cent. as nervos). A form nerveous is also occasionally attested in the late 17th and early 18th cent., apparently after post-classical Latin nerveus adjective (1683 or earlier).

A. adj.

†I. Senses relating to sinews or tendons (cf. nerve n. 2).

1. Affecting the sinews or tendons. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > structural parts > sinew, tendon, or ligament > [adjective] > composed of

sinewy1382

nervousa1400

tendinous1658

tendonous1660

tendinal1887

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 99 Þe crampe is a sijknes cordous eiþer neruous [L. neruosa], in þe which..þe senewis weren drawen to her bigynnynge.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 94 (MED) Þe crampe is a cordouse sijknesse or a neruous.

a. Full of sinews. Also in extended use. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 258/3 (MED) Þe nose is not neruous, & þe nose is a propre instrument for to smelle.

?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Div It is a neruous or synewy substaunce.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 777 In the originall this Muscle is broade..& Neruous.

1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 77 Some eate the flesh which is very nervouse.

1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. vi. 9 A Muscle, which is one while ligamentous and nervous, and otherwhiles fleshy.

1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 25/2 The Oak, being hard, close, and nervous, and of the smallest Pores.

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 29 Roast a Piece of Veal, cut off the Skin and nervous Parts.

b. Of the nature of a sinew; resembling a sinew in texture; tough, strong. Obsolete.

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the world > matter > constitution of matter > strength > [adjective] > tough

tougha700

sinewy1578

wiry1588

gristly1601

nervous1601

tenax1605

tenacious1607

clunga1722

whipcord1879

whinstone1910

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > [adjective]

corded1382

stringed1552

sinewya1593

nervous1601

chordal1619

chorded1687

strung1695

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. XIX. i. 3 The thred it selfe that they make of their Flax..is..nervous also and strong.

1655 tr. C. Sorel Comical Hist. Francion vii. 9 Which of all thy strings is the hardest to tune?.. It is that which is the biggest and most nervous of all.

1763 W. Falconer Ode Duke of York 19 To wake the lyre..And tune to war the nervous string.

c. Of a bow: strung with sinew. Obsolete.

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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [adjective] > attributes of bow

unbent1513

torquesa1568

stringless1597

nervous1638

strung1695

unbended1726

unstrung1744

self1801

1638 Archery Reviv'd 4 She generously taught her sons to know No other weapon, but the nervous bow.

1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia iii. 689 From nervous Cross-Bows whistling Arrows fly.

1735 L. Theobald Fatal Secret Prol. To-Night's Advent'rer the same Pow'rs would shew, And tries his Strength in Webster's nervous Bow.

a. Having strong, well-developed, or prominent sinews. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > structural parts > sinew, tendon, or ligament > [adjective] > having

sinewy1398

nervous1483

sinewed1588

nervy1598

1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) iv. xxxii. 81 These armes ben neruous, that is to seyn wel frett with senewes.

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 248 The arms strong and nervous, having the veins conspicuous.

1677 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (rev. ed.) 26 The body of this fish is..narrow towards the tail which is nervous.

1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxii. 497 The nervous Ancles bor'd, his Feet he bound With Thongs.

1772 W. Jones Poems 163 Nervous limbs, where youthful ardour glow'd.

c1842 M. J. Higgins Ess. (1875) p. xviii By a judicious application of his nervous tail to some prominent branch.

b. Of an animal or person, etc.: sinewy, muscular, strong; vigorous, energetic. Obsolete.

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the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily strength > [adjective]

mightyeOE

strongOE

bigc1300

boldc1300

fort13..

steer13..

steevec1300

valiant1303

stalwortha1340

fortin1340

strengthfula1382

stout1390

pithya1400

tora1400

mighteda1470

strengthyc1485

forcy1488

nervy1598

nervous1616

whipcordy1856

Tarzanesque1933

Tarzan-like1943

the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > of action: involving or requiring vigour > vigorous or intense in operation

strongeOE

smartc1300

steevec1300

keen1340

piercinga1400

perceantc1400

forta1513

incisive1528

vigorous1548

forcible1555

emphatical1581

searching1590

nervous1616

strenuous1632

arrowy1650

intent1650

urging1658

sinewous1663

emphatic1689

drastic1808

needling1839

shrewd1842

gimlet1894

1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale xi. 305 His nervous horse of sorrell shininge hyde.

1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans IV. 186 The nervous reaper had levelled the golden field.

1769 W. Falconer Shipwreck (ed. 3) i. 39 The nervous crew their sweeping oars extend.

1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm viii. 202 The busy, nervous, and frigid people of the north.

1844 R. W. Emerson in Dial Apr. 491 The nervous, rocky West is intruding a new and continental element into the national mind, and we shall yet have an American genius.

c. Derived from the possession of (strong) sinews; corporeal, physical. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > [adjective]

lichamlyc888

fleshlyc1175

outward?c1225

bodilyc1380

corporalc1400

personal?a1439

carnal1488

earthya1533

carrionc1540

corporatec1580

nervous1616

fleshy1630

somandric1716

physical1737

somatic1775

corporeal1795

psychosomatica1834

physico-mental1844

somal1900

1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale (1890) vii. 100 Algarsife feirce, the foremost in the warrs, redd armd in steele, like a younge other mars, of nervous potence, brawny fleshe and bones.

1715 S. Wesley Hist. Holy Bible lxix Always Contentious, ever in the Wrong, Boasting his nervous Strength but vainly strong.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth ii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 71 The nervous strength and weight of one of the muscular armourer's [hands].

1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 338 They..handled their paddles unskilfully, but with nervous energy and determination.

1870 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. XI. 491 The nervous courage which could face death without flinching.

a. Of argument, prose, poetry, literary style, etc.: vigorous, powerful, forcible; free from insipidity and diffuseness. Obsolete.

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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective]

sensiblea1393

eloquent1393

rhetoricc1450

mightya1500

pithy1529

grave1541

pithful1548

weighty1560

sappy1563

emphatical1567

fasta1568

thwacking1567

forceful1571

enforceable1589

energetical1596

eloquious1599

sinewy1600

emphatic1602

sinewed1604

strong1604

tonitruous1606

nervose1645

nervous1663

energetic1674

energic1683

strong1685

cogent1718

lapidary1724

forcible1726

authoritative1749

terse1777

telling1819

vigorous1821

sturdy1822

tonitruant1861

meaty1874

vertebrate1882

energized1887

jawy1898

heavy1970

1663 E. Waterhouse (title) Fortescutus Illustratus, or a commentary on that nervous treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ.

1664 J. Mede Wks. (ed. 2) II. iii. ix. 1039 A nervous, close and well-composed Discourse.

1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xlii The Author hath in so nervous a Manner given..Directions.

1718 N. Amhurst Protestant Popery ii. 18 To you the Church Her tow'ry Head inclines, And begs Protection from your nervous lines.

1721 C. Pitt On Death Late Earl Stanhope 11 How here triumphant too, his nervous Sense Bore off the Palm of Manly Eloquence.

1780 W. Cowper Let. 2 July (1979) I. 359 Whatever is short should be nervous, masculine, and compact.

1828 T. Carlyle Burns in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 269 Mr. Lockhart's own writing is generally so good, so clear, direct and nervous.

1875 R. Broughton Nancy ii. 12 ‘You beast’ cried I, in good nervous English, turning sharply round.

1896 F. Harrison in 19th Cent. June 981 The nervous and learned works of his more glowing autumn.

b. Applied to speakers and writers. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading I. ii. 140 The plain nervous orator will no longer gain attention.

1867 H. Kingsley Silcote of Silcotes I. 225 Miss Bronté? A good and nervous tho' coarse describer of a narrow landscape.

a1897 T. E. Brown Coll. Poems (1900) ii. 106 No mincing this. Be nervous, soaked In dialect colloquial, retaining the native accent pure, unchocked With cockney balderdash.

II. Senses relating to nerves (cf. nerve n. 1).

5. Full of nerves; supplied with nerves, (well) innervated. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > sense organ > touch organ > [adjective]

nervousa1400

touchy1618

touch-sensitive1866

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 167 Þe clooþ [of stomach] þat sittiþ wiþinne is villosus & neruous.

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 266 (MED) Þer schal no coold þing be leid þerto for þe place [sc. the female breast] is neruous, for coold þing wolde greue it.

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Hunterian) f. 65 Þe inner tunikel of þe stomake is neruous..þat he schulde fele his inanicioun and haue more appetite.

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 35^v (MED) The lunge is..y-lappid in a neruous & in a senewy pannicle.

1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed iv. 384 The dilaceration of those nervous parts created a most sharp and dolorous sensation.

1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. 2 How sensible those nervous parts are, need not be told any who have seen vivisections, where the least..touches..will cause a sensible motion.

1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. vi. 82 As they lessen his stock, so they..wound him in the tenderest and most nervous part.

1954 J. Huxley et al. Evol. as Process 133 The greater part of the richly nervous epidermis [in Enteropneusta] may well be homologous with the neural plate of vertebrates.

1991 Dog Fancy Jan. 6/1 The cornea is a rich nervous tissue that plays a fundamental role in the visual process.

a. Affecting the nerves or nervous system; arising from (or attributed to) a disorder or dysfunction of the nerves; suffering from a disorder of the nerves.

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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of nervous system > [adjective]

nervous?a1425

neuropathic1843

neuropathical1892

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > affected by neurosis > relating to neurosis

nervous?a1425

neuropathic1843

neurotic1866

neurosal1878

neuropathical1892

?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 94 Jn alle maner neruous causes, where þat a man douteþ of grete akeþ wheþer þat it be present or forto cumme, a man moste enoint þe pacient aboute þe necke.

1699 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 21 292 The Effects [are] therefore to be more peculiarly appropriated to such Nervous Diseases, as are more intense.

1734 G. Cheyne (title) On nervous diseases.

1739 J. Huxham Ess. Fevers (1750) ii. 26 The Constitution of the Solids and Fluids..may be so far depressed as to bring on the low Influent, or slow nervous Fever.

1768 J. Wesley Jrnl. 4 Jan. (1827) III. 302 It is the most efficacious medicine in nervous disorders.

1787 H. More Let. June (1925) 120 A very tedious nervous headache has made me less than ever qualified to traffic with you.

1807 A. Putnam in Danvers Hist. Soc. Coll. (1917) V. 57 Mr. David Tapley is very sick with the nervous fever.

1813 L. Hunt in Examiner 22 Feb. 113/2 It was a disorder of what is called the nervous species... A nervous consumption was apprehended.

1817 J. H. Curtis Treat. on Ear 72 Even the most difficult of the whole of this class of deafness, that which is termed nervous deafness, may..be arrested in its progress.

1857 J. A. Symonds Let. 16 Nov. (1967) I. 125 I must..not work much these trials since yesterday I had the same sort of nervous headache.

1869 R. T. Claridge Cold-water Cure 195 A severe nervous fever ensued.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 415 In all nervous cases the determination of the dose is a matter of experiment.

1924 H. Crane Let. 23 Sept. (1965) 190 The sneezing and nervous fever..begin to subside.

1973 E. Berckman Victorian Album 142 The thought of any considerable threat to her happiness..is always enough to give me a nervous headache.

b. Involving the nerves or the mind; esp. designating properties or conditions attributed to the nerves.

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the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [adjective] > affecting or concerned with

nerval1636

nervous1804

nervo-muscular1833

1804 Gentleman's Mag. 74 i. 219 You have an unequivocal proof of nervous sympathy.

1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. vii. 100 With all the eagerness of the most nervous irritability.

1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. i. i. §1 29 Labour is either bodily or mental; or, to express the distinction more comprehensively,..either muscular or nervous.

1879 G. M. Beard in N.Y. Med. Jrnl. 29 225 (title) The nature and diagnosis of neurasthenia (nervous exhaustion).

1927 ‘R. Crompton’ William—in Trouble viii. 207 He's suffering from nervous exhaustion.

1942 Amer. Observer 2 Feb. 2/3 Some have noted principally Hitler's faith in himself and in his mission, others his stupendous nervous energy and power of will.

1979 Shakespeare Q. 30 217 Lady Macbeth exhausted her nervous strength rather quickly in this production.

1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army ii. 15 For a platoon sergeant with a hopeless intake, the prospect of ‘passing off the square’ in week five..is liable to induce a severe case of nervous strain.

1999 M. Pendergrast Uncommon Grounds vi. 96 Named and popularized by Dr. George Beard, neurasthenia supposedly involved an exhaustion of the body's limited supply of ‘nervous energy’.

7. Of the nature of a nerve or nerve tissue; of, relating to, or consisting of nerves or nerve tissue.See also nervous system n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [adjective]

nervousc1475

neuromyic1841

neuric1857

neuromuscular1864

neurine1870

nervose1880

neurovascular1888

intraneural1901

myoneural1905

neuromotor1917

neuromyal1926

c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 24 (MED) Of þe neruous substaunce of þe Nerui obtici is engendrid þe..retina.

1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 75 Whether there be a Nervous and Nutritious Juice?

1684 T. Gibson Anat. Humane Bodies (ed. 2) 13 The true skin..is made up of nervous fibres..closely interwoven..and of a parenchyma that fills up the interstices.

1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen 306 The extreme Tenuity of..nervous Fibre.

1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iv. §9. 131 The retina, or last nervous part of the eye.

1808 J. Barclay Muscular Motions 254 The course of the nervous branches that are called recurrents.

1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. ii. 56 The brain and spinal cord are termed the nervous centres.

1877 M. Foster Text Bk. Physiol. iii. i. 342 The foundation of modern nervous physiology.

1908 Practitioner Oct. 562 Thus Nissl's ‘nervous gray’ has been shown not to be entirely nervous in structure.

1948 New Biol. 4 123 The cutting of all nervous pathways to the mammary site.

1995 N.Y. Times 21 Mar. c 10/2 His idea is that in each cycle a wave of nervous impulses radiates out from around the intralaminar nucleus to all parts of the cortex.

8. Of a medicine: acting on the nerves; alleviating nervous disorders. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations for treating specific parts > [adjective] > for the nerves

neurotic1659

nervine1718

nervous1718

neuritic1725

nervose1880

1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 76 Nervous Simples..may be extended to take in all those Parts of the Materia Medica by which the Nerves are affected.

1790 Med. Communications 2 489 I ordered..a cordial or nervous medicine to be taken.

1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton II. xv. 169 She gave me a nervous draught.

1897 Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc. 9 168 The treatment consisted of the administration of nervous sedatives, at first chloralamide, to which later was added hyoscine.

1994 Harrowsmith Mar. 78/3 (advt.) Nervous Sedative, all-natural with organically grown Valerian & Lemon balm extracts... For 50 mL, send $12.90 + $2 S & H.

a. Of a person or temperament: excitable, highly strung, easily agitated, anxious, timid; hypersensitive; worried, anxious (about); afraid, apprehensive (of).nervous wreck: see Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > [adjective] > nervous or easily agitated

agitable1603

wincing1603

nervous1740

nervo-sanguineous1807

alarmable1813

intense1817

tense1821

finely-strung1841

flutterable1891

nerve-ridden1892

shockable1893

the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [adjective] > nervous

nervous1740

nerve-shaken1818

twitchety1859

nervy1873

trepidatious1904

all of a wonk1918

spooky1926

squirrelly1928

jittery1931

spooked1937

hinky1956

psyched1961

nattery1966

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > affected by neurosis

nervous1740

neurotic1886

1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen Pref. 1 The..Consumptive, or Nervous Valetudinarian-low-livers.

1763 Brit. Mag. Aug. 406/1 The ladies were too narvous to venture further than the entrance of the cavern.

1783 S. Johnson Let. 24 Nov. (1994) IV. 249 A tender, irritable, and as it is not very properly called a nervous constitution.

1812 J. W. Croker in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. 39 A disposition naturally anxious and nervous.

1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. xi. 279 He was at that moment so nervous, that he had cut himself slightly through the trembling of his hand.

1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion iii. 154 Higgins:..Dont be nervous about it. Pitch it in strong. Clara (all smiles): I will. Good-bye.

1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 26 Oct. 355/3 Nervous of attempting train or tramcar with their strange charge.

1946 J. Hersey Hiroshima iv. 113 She was nervous, and any sudden noise made her put her hands quickly to her throat.

1988 M. Chabon Myst. Pittsburgh i. 9 I was nervous and drank more than I ate.

1995 Farmers Weekly 31 Mar. 35/5 I have to say I am nervous of getting whole-crop wrong and will have to join the whole-crop section of the Maize Growers Association to ensure I am up to speed on the subject.

b. Of animals (esp. horses): easily upset or agitated; wary, frightened, timid.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > [adjective] > afraid of

afearedOE

afraidc1350

adoubteda1470

frightened1827

timid1833

nervous1848

1848 R. L. Allen Domest. Animals 148 Some horses are nervous, easily excited, and start at every unusual noise or object.

1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 315/1 The public..is being trotted up and down in front of Home Rule in the belief that, like a nervous horse, it can be familiarized with the alarming object.

1906 J. London White Fang v. iv. 309 The horse became frightened and backed and plunged away. It grew more nervous and excited every moment.

1975 J. L. Anderson Night of Silent Drums iv.xiii. 341 A nervous, thirsty young pearly-eyed thrasher, called t'rushie in the Creole dialect, tried to get a drink of water.

1991 Dogs Today Mar. 26/4 9.00 am: Go over the M25 and find a very nervous and thin Jack Russell waiting for us.

2000 Pets Mar. 53/1 One of the best ways to soothe nervous pets is with flower essences.

c. In extended use and figurative.

ΚΠ

1919 J. Reed Ten Days that shook World iii. 59 The city was nervous, starting at every sharp sound.

1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xxiii. 288 A gray nervous cloud was scurrying eastward.

1980 A. Kernan Death of Literature vi. 150 Television is a nervous, continuous collage.

1989 N.Y. Woman Oct. 108/2 We celebrate New York as a nervous, jittery place, famous for its edge.

1999 BBC Music Mag. Apr. 75/2 The music is dramatic from the start: dissonant wind above nervous violins and pulsating bass.

2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 24 Nov. iv. 5/1 In this nervous time, the goading and counterpunching taking place with such deadly intensity over Iraq constitute part of a shadow war.

d. Stock Market. Of money: invested cautiously at only short-term risk. Of trading on a stock market: characterized or dominated by apprehension over uncertainties in the market. Of a financial market: characterized or dominated by apprehensive trading.Cf. quot. 1929 at sense A. 11.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [adjective] > invested > cautious

safety first1927

nervous1933

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market

sensitive1813

bearish1827

light1827

quiet1833

easy1836

soft1849

weak1856

steady1857

buoyant1868

sick1870

swimming1870

featureless1879

bullish1882

firm1887

gravelly1887

technical1889

pippy1892

manipulated1903

thin1931

volatile1931

trendless1939

nervous1955

toppy1961

over-bullish1970

toppish1983

1933 Times 13 Dec. 14/1 Mr. Douglas proceeds upon the assumptions..that nervous capital would resume that long-term investment which will accelerate construction; [etc.].

1955 Times 13 Aug. 10/2 Fresh nervous selling before Monday's Cabinet meeting kept stock markets dull yesterday.

1979 Washington Post 1 Apr. f17/6 Nervous buying helped push prices of scarce merchandise lower.

1983 Economist 24 Sept. 84/3 Markets were nervous ahead of the latest round of Sino-British talks on Hongkong's future.

1996 Observer 29 Dec. (Sport & Business section) 15/7 If the stock market looks nervous, there will be many products offering stop-loss guarantees.

†10. Stimulating to the nerves; exciting. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > [adjective] > characterized by or causing

commotive1605

nervous1775

jumpy1883

hectic1904

1775 G. Crabbe Inebriety i. 5 The gentle fair, on nervous tea relies.

1834 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 359 Really I never saw such a nervous sight.

1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters (ed. 3) I. 337 It is a very nervous thing for an ignorant artist.

11. Of feelings, actions, etc.: resulting from or accompanied by nervousness or mental agitation.

ΚΠ

1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 10 Aug. (1941) 87 This [is] a morning of fidgety, nervous confusion.

1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton II. xi. 64 With a nervous attempt at a laugh.

1871 W. H. Dixon Tower III. i. 7 Nervous terror often makes men bold.

1915 W. Cather Song of Lark i. i. 6 His nervous, ministerial cough annoyed the doctor. ‘Exactly as if he were going to give out a text,’ he thought.

1925 S. Lewis Martin Arrowsmith xx. 232 The habit of social ease, of dressing, of going places without nervous anticipation.

1929 Economist 26 Oct. 777/1 Many brokers..find that their correspondence nowadays consists very largely of nervous inquiries for adequate explanations of price-declines, followed..by requests as to whether shares should be sold.

1970 N.Y. Mag. 16 Nov. 66/1 Entertainments..reminding us that laughter is alive and well (and not a nervous reaction to some blackness of comedy).

1988 Music & Lett. 69 553 Kennedy uncovered the private man that lay behind the public image, an introspective artist beset with nervous anxieties.

1995 Times 17 June (Mag.) 4/4 Chance acquaintances are greeting each other with the nervous bray that's meant to suggest old matehood.

12. Of physical appearance or parts of the body: manifesting, or betraying, the symptoms of a person's nervousness or agitation; trembling, agitated, restless.

ΚΠ

1844 J. H. Ingraham Midshipman vii. 39 There were dark faces with fierce mustaches and glittering eyes thrust towards the table, nervous hands moving in rapid gesticulations.

1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) I. 28 A colourless, youthful face..; large, grave, wistfully-attentive eyes; nervous, uncertain lips; and light hair of a pale, brownish-yellow hue.

1900 Daily News 11 Oct. 3/1 The nervous hand, clenching and unclenching as his passions swayed him.

1992 P. MacCann in First Fictions Introd. 11 192 In the changing room, Albertine would fake fiddling with her clothes, would force indifferent faces, a yawn, while strategically, her nervous eyes aimed into that beauty's tan striptease.

†III. In botanical use.

13. Botany. = nervose adj. 4a. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > [adjective] > having or not having veins

venose?a1425

venous1626

nervous1668

veiny1681

nervose1753

nerveless1783

veinless1783

nerved1793

nervated1802

trinerved1811

trinervate1813

venulose1821

penninerved1849

penniveined1855

parallelinervate1857

parallelivenous1857

penninervate1857

net-veined1860

basinerved1866

nervate1866

obtectovenose1866

palm-veined1866

parallelinerved1866

parallelivenose1866

parallelinervous1893

pinninervate1893

1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. iv. 78 Herbs of nervous leaves.

1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 52 Seven or more ribs..going through the leaf with some transverse ones, making the leaf very nervous.

1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 385 Nervosum, nervous, with Nerves extended from the Base to the Apex.

B. n.

With plural agreement. With the. Nervous people as a class.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > one who is nervous

nervous1775

old maid1851

nervous wreck1871

jitterbug1934

1775 P. M. Freneau To Americans in Poems (1929) 23 No toils should daunt the nervous and the bold.

1827 J. Nicholson Lyre of Ebor 48 Thy healthy mountains, wells, and air, Can cure the nervous.

1884 Overland Monthly Dec. 571/1 In time, the strong and weak, the nervous and the placid,..become imbued with the genial contentedness so characteristic of the town.

1929 Times 8 Nov. 5/4 (advt.) For the nervous and the sleepless, Guinness..‘acts like a soothing balm’.

1999 Guardian 6 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) 65/5 A standing stone, and a cillinich—a graveyard for children who died before being baptised—marked on the Ordnance Survey map but far enough from the house to be avoided by the nervous.

Compounds

C1. Forming adjectival compounds, as †nervous-bilious, nervous-looking, nervous-making, †nervous-minded, etc.

ΚΠ

1841 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 3) ii. iv. 298 An energetic or excitable temperament, such as the bilious or nervous-bilious.

1846 H. W. Longfellow Jrnl. 9 Apr. in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1886) II. ii. 35 Let us be calm and happy, rather than excitable and nervous-minded.

1855 A. S. Stevens Long Look Ahead 99 The horse was a large, strong-jointed, nervous-looking creature.

1859 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1854–8 6 291 The electrical nervous-muscular sensibility of man.

1875 E. M. Hale Materia Medica 494 J. B. McK., merchant, about forty years of age, nervous-bilious temperament.

1939 F. A. Kirkpatrick Latin Amer. xxviii. 345 The author, Francisco Madero, a nervous-looking little man.

1971 K. Awoonor This Earth, my Brother ii. 24 Now and then a man trailed in a pickup, or a nervous-looking undernourished girl who had appeared in his office looking for a job.

1990 Atlantic Nov. 25/3 The latest of them..looks to be Sondheim's most nervous-making project yet.

1996 J. C. Oates We were Mulvaneys 35 A shy frowning nervous-handed boy.

C2.

nervous breakdown n. sudden decline in mental health, esp. when resulting in inability to carry on normal activities; an instance of this; also in extended use and figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > impairment of mental powers > aboulia or psychasthenia

neurasthenia1833

abulia1848

neuradynamia1848

neurastheny1849

tonelessness1873

aboulomania1883

psychoparesis1883

nervous breakdown1884

psychasthenia1900

1884 Longman's Mag. Christmas No. 73 Her husband was suddenly prostrated with some kind of nervous breakdown.

1933 W. B. Wolfe Nerv. Breakdown (1934) i. 2 In a nervous breakdown the whole personality declares a moratorium of normal activities, and both body and soul join in a cry for help.

2000 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 26/3 This is..a ‘nervous breakdown’ of the railways.

Nervous Nellie n. [popularized by use in U.S. politics, especially as applied to Frank B. Kellogg (1856–1937), U.S. politician.] slang (chiefly U.S.) an overly timid, cautious, or fearful person; one who fusses unnecessarily.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > timidity > [noun] > one who is timid

sheep1542

trembler1552

sheep's hearta1616

mouse1839

feartie1923

Nervous Nellie1925

1925 N.Y. Herald Tribune 18 Jan. ii. 1/5 [Kellogg] was labeled ‘Nervous Nellie’ by those who were irritated at his maneuvering during the League of Nations fight.

1967 Canadian 2 Sept. 13 They're window washers and theirs is not a job for nervous nellies.

1995 Denver Post 22 Jan. b9/2 I tend to tune out the Nervous Nellie skiers who complain about the way they dress or the noise boards make on hard snow.

2002 N.Y. Times 15 Nov. iv. 14/3 In a broadcast last week, the president said that ‘there's a lot of nervous Nellies at the Pentagon’ when it comes to taking military action.

nervous stomach n. (the condition of having) a stomach or digestive system which is easily disturbed by anxiety, dietary change, etc.

ΚΠ

1833 R. Fletcher Brain & Nerv. Disturbances xiii. 207 No fact is more clear, than the great value of the practice of changing the air, in the nervous stomach cases in question.

1882 Freeborn (Minnesota) County Standard 31 Aug. 3/6 A ‘nervous’ stomach is irritated by food which a healthy baby could easily digest.

1925 Social Forces 4 441/1 He refers to..the gastro-intestinal theory of neuroses, without referring to the authors of..The Nervous Stomach.

1997 C. P. Dancey & S. Backhouse IBS i. 3 During this time my nervous stomach was completely out of control. The diarrhoea was so bad I couldn't leave the house, I felt very nauseous and had a lot of stomach pain.

nervous tension n. mental or emotional strain; a (supposed) condition of the nerves associated with this.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > nervous tension

nervous tension1869

1869 Proc. Royal Soc. 1868–9 17 115 The nervous tension at that moment may be conceived: what would be seen? what call for action made?

1936 Discovery Nov. 357/2 His nervous tension is surely not lessened if precautions are taken against his actually watching the operation [on himself].

1983 J. Hennessy Torvill & Dean 75 Save for a little bending and stretching, more to relieve nervous tension than anything else, he does nothing.

nervous tic n. a tic caused by (or attributed to) nervous dysfunction; (in extended use) a repetitive action, esp. one performed out of nervousness; a habitual response.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > tic or twitch

spasm1477

vellication1665

subsultus1696

tic douloureux1800

tic1822

jerking1827

live blood1834

nervous tic1858

jactitation1861

habit spasm1888

myokymia1901

fasciculation1938

1858 O. S. Leland Beatrice i. ii. 16 Pes. Is he not an epileptic? Mrs. F. No; he has only a nervous tic!

1871 New Englander & Tale Rev. July 434 Her mouth, though delicately formed, had been ‘slightly drawn by a nervous tic, which caused her to make grimaces when speaking.’

1944 Slavonic & East European Rev. Amer. Ser. 3 118 His cheek twitches with a nervous tic, and his hands tremble on his knees.

1994 Independent on Sunday 13 Nov. (Review Suppl.) 34/4 Curzon's pre-marital trouser-dropping was a nervous tic.

nervous wreck n. colloquial a person or animal suffering from extreme nervousness; a person whose mental or emotional strength has declined.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > one who is nervous

nervous1775

old maid1851

nervous wreck1871

jitterbug1934

1871 Ladies' Repository Mar. 231/1 A man may drink moderately but steadily all his life..but his daughters become nervous wrecks.

1906 W. James Let. 9 May (1920) II. 251 I didn't hear one pathetic word uttered at the scene of disaster, though of course the crop of ‘nervous wrecks’ is very likely to come in a month or so.

1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep i. vi. 110 He started at every noise. He was the very model of a nervous wreck.

1997 Your Horse Nov. 42/3 The horse was a nervous wreck when the farrier came and next time I rode out she reared in the middle of the road and lamed herself.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	nervous
释义	nervousadj.n. Brit. /ˈnəːvəs/, U.S. /ˈnərvəs/ Forms: Middle English 1600s nervouse, Middle English–1600s neruous, 1600s– nervous, 1700s (1800s– English regional) narvous; U.S. regional 1800s nervious, 1800s nurvious, 1800s– narvous, 1900s– nerveous; also Irish English 1800s narvous, 1900s– narviss, 1900s– naviss (northern). Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin nervōsus. Etymology: < classical Latin nervōsus sinewy, having tough fibres, vigorous, (of literary style) energetic, in post-classical Latin also sensitive (5th cent.), composed of nerves (from late 12th cent. in British sources), affecting the tendons or sinews (late 13th cent.) < nervus nerve n. + -ōsus -ous suffix. Compare nervose adj., nervish adj. Compare Middle French, French nerveux sinewy, tendinous (13th cent.; also in Anglo-Norman as nervus in this sense), strong, vigorous (1549 in figurative use with reference to poetry, 1574 of a person, 1690 of a literary style), (of a person) effective (1636), of or belonging to the nerves (1678), (of leaves) having conspicuous veins or ribs (1749), (of insects) having wings with veins of a different colour from the background (1764), Portuguese nervioso (13th cent.), Italian nervoso (a1320), Spanish †nervoso (1607; 14th cent. as nervioso), German nervös (first half of the 18th cent. in sense ‘strong, robust’, second half of the 18th cent. in sense ‘relating to the nerves’; mid 17th cent. as nervos). A form nerveous is also occasionally attested in the late 17th and early 18th cent., apparently after post-classical Latin nerveus adjective (1683 or earlier). A. adj. †I. Senses relating to sinews or tendons (cf. nerve n. 2). 1. Affecting the sinews or tendons. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > structural parts > sinew, tendon, or ligament > [adjective] > composed of sinewy1382 nervousa1400 tendinous1658 tendonous1660 tendinal1887 a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 99 Þe crampe is a sijknes cordous eiþer neruous [L. neruosa], in þe which..þe senewis weren drawen to her bigynnynge. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 94 (MED) Þe crampe is a cordouse sijknesse or a neruous. 2. a. Full of sinews. Also in extended use. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 258/3 (MED) Þe nose is not neruous, & þe nose is a propre instrument for to smelle. ?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Div It is a neruous or synewy substaunce. 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 777 In the originall this Muscle is broade..& Neruous. 1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 77 Some eate the flesh which is very nervouse. 1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse i. vi. 9 A Muscle, which is one while ligamentous and nervous, and otherwhiles fleshy. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 25/2 The Oak, being hard, close, and nervous, and of the smallest Pores. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ii. 29 Roast a Piece of Veal, cut off the Skin and nervous Parts. b. Of the nature of a sinew; resembling a sinew in texture; tough, strong. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > strength > [adjective] > tough tougha700 sinewy1578 wiry1588 gristly1601 nervous1601 tenax1605 tenacious1607 clunga1722 whipcord1879 whinstone1910 society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > [adjective] corded1382 stringed1552 sinewya1593 nervous1601 chordal1619 chorded1687 strung1695 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. XIX. i. 3 The thred it selfe that they make of their Flax..is..nervous also and strong. 1655 tr. C. Sorel Comical Hist. Francion vii. 9 Which of all thy strings is the hardest to tune?.. It is that which is the biggest and most nervous of all. 1763 W. Falconer Ode Duke of York 19 To wake the lyre..And tune to war the nervous string. c. Of a bow: strung with sinew. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [adjective] > attributes of bow unbent1513 torquesa1568 stringless1597 nervous1638 strung1695 unbended1726 unstrung1744 self1801 1638 Archery Reviv'd 4 She generously taught her sons to know No other weapon, but the nervous bow. 1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia iii. 689 From nervous Cross-Bows whistling Arrows fly. 1735 L. Theobald Fatal Secret Prol. To-Night's Advent'rer the same Pow'rs would shew, And tries his Strength in Webster's nervous Bow. 3. a. Having strong, well-developed, or prominent sinews. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > structural parts > sinew, tendon, or ligament > [adjective] > having sinewy1398 nervous1483 sinewed1588 nervy1598 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) iv. xxxii. 81 These armes ben neruous, that is to seyn wel frett with senewes. 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 248 The arms strong and nervous, having the veins conspicuous. 1677 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (rev. ed.) 26 The body of this fish is..narrow towards the tail which is nervous. 1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxii. 497 The nervous Ancles bor'd, his Feet he bound With Thongs. 1772 W. Jones Poems 163 Nervous limbs, where youthful ardour glow'd. c1842 M. J. Higgins Ess. (1875) p. xviii By a judicious application of his nervous tail to some prominent branch. b. Of an animal or person, etc.: sinewy, muscular, strong; vigorous, energetic. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily strength > [adjective] mightyeOE strongOE bigc1300 boldc1300 fort13.. steer13.. steevec1300 valiant1303 stalwortha1340 fortin1340 strengthfula1382 stout1390 pithya1400 tora1400 mighteda1470 strengthyc1485 forcy1488 nervy1598 nervous1616 whipcordy1856 Tarzanesque1933 Tarzan-like1943 the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > of action: involving or requiring vigour > vigorous or intense in operation strongeOE smartc1300 steevec1300 keen1340 piercinga1400 perceantc1400 forta1513 incisive1528 vigorous1548 forcible1555 emphatical1581 searching1590 nervous1616 strenuous1632 arrowy1650 intent1650 urging1658 sinewous1663 emphatic1689 drastic1808 needling1839 shrewd1842 gimlet1894 1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale xi. 305 His nervous horse of sorrell shininge hyde. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans IV. 186 The nervous reaper had levelled the golden field. 1769 W. Falconer Shipwreck (ed. 3) i. 39 The nervous crew their sweeping oars extend. 1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm viii. 202 The busy, nervous, and frigid people of the north. 1844 R. W. Emerson in Dial Apr. 491 The nervous, rocky West is intruding a new and continental element into the national mind, and we shall yet have an American genius. c. Derived from the possession of (strong) sinews; corporeal, physical. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > [adjective] lichamlyc888 fleshlyc1175 outward?c1225 bodilyc1380 corporalc1400 personal?a1439 carnal1488 earthya1533 carrionc1540 corporatec1580 nervous1616 fleshy1630 somandric1716 physical1737 somatic1775 corporeal1795 psychosomatica1834 physico-mental1844 somal1900 1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale (1890) vii. 100 Algarsife feirce, the foremost in the warrs, redd armd in steele, like a younge other mars, of nervous potence, brawny fleshe and bones. 1715 S. Wesley Hist. Holy Bible lxix Always Contentious, ever in the Wrong, Boasting his nervous Strength but vainly strong. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth ii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 71 The nervous strength and weight of one of the muscular armourer's [hands]. 1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 338 They..handled their paddles unskilfully, but with nervous energy and determination. 1870 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. XI. 491 The nervous courage which could face death without flinching. 4. a. Of argument, prose, poetry, literary style, etc.: vigorous, powerful, forcible; free from insipidity and diffuseness. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [adjective] sensiblea1393 eloquent1393 rhetoricc1450 mightya1500 pithy1529 grave1541 pithful1548 weighty1560 sappy1563 emphatical1567 fasta1568 thwacking1567 forceful1571 enforceable1589 energetical1596 eloquious1599 sinewy1600 emphatic1602 sinewed1604 strong1604 tonitruous1606 nervose1645 nervous1663 energetic1674 energic1683 strong1685 cogent1718 lapidary1724 forcible1726 authoritative1749 terse1777 telling1819 vigorous1821 sturdy1822 tonitruant1861 meaty1874 vertebrate1882 energized1887 jawy1898 heavy1970 1663 E. Waterhouse (title) Fortescutus Illustratus, or a commentary on that nervous treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ. 1664 J. Mede Wks. (ed. 2) II. iii. ix. 1039 A nervous, close and well-composed Discourse. 1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions p. xlii The Author hath in so nervous a Manner given..Directions. 1718 N. Amhurst Protestant Popery ii. 18 To you the Church Her tow'ry Head inclines, And begs Protection from your nervous lines. 1721 C. Pitt On Death Late Earl Stanhope 11 How here triumphant too, his nervous Sense Bore off the Palm of Manly Eloquence. 1780 W. Cowper Let. 2 July (1979) I. 359 Whatever is short should be nervous, masculine, and compact. 1828 T. Carlyle Burns in Edinb. Rev. Dec. 269 Mr. Lockhart's own writing is generally so good, so clear, direct and nervous. 1875 R. Broughton Nancy ii. 12 ‘You beast’ cried I, in good nervous English, turning sharply round. 1896 F. Harrison in 19th Cent. June 981 The nervous and learned works of his more glowing autumn. b. Applied to speakers and writers. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading I. ii. 140 The plain nervous orator will no longer gain attention. 1867 H. Kingsley Silcote of Silcotes I. 225 Miss Bronté? A good and nervous tho' coarse describer of a narrow landscape. a1897 T. E. Brown Coll. Poems (1900) ii. 106 No mincing this. Be nervous, soaked In dialect colloquial, retaining the native accent pure, unchocked With cockney balderdash. II. Senses relating to nerves (cf. nerve n. 1). 5. Full of nerves; supplied with nerves, (well) innervated. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > sense organ > touch organ > [adjective] nervousa1400 touchy1618 touch-sensitive1866 a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 167 Þe clooþ [of stomach] þat sittiþ wiþinne is villosus & neruous. a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 266 (MED) Þer schal no coold þing be leid þerto for þe place [sc. the female breast] is neruous, for coold þing wolde greue it. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Hunterian) f. 65 Þe inner tunikel of þe stomake is neruous..þat he schulde fele his inanicioun and haue more appetite. c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 35^v (MED) The lunge is..y-lappid in a neruous & in a senewy pannicle. 1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed iv. 384 The dilaceration of those nervous parts created a most sharp and dolorous sensation. 1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. 2 How sensible those nervous parts are, need not be told any who have seen vivisections, where the least..touches..will cause a sensible motion. 1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. vi. 82 As they lessen his stock, so they..wound him in the tenderest and most nervous part. 1954 J. Huxley et al. Evol. as Process 133 The greater part of the richly nervous epidermis [in Enteropneusta] may well be homologous with the neural plate of vertebrates. 1991 Dog Fancy Jan. 6/1 The cornea is a rich nervous tissue that plays a fundamental role in the visual process. 6. a. Affecting the nerves or nervous system; arising from (or attributed to) a disorder or dysfunction of the nerves; suffering from a disorder of the nerves. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of nervous system > [adjective] nervous?a1425 neuropathic1843 neuropathical1892 the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > affected by neurosis > relating to neurosis nervous?a1425 neuropathic1843 neurotic1866 neurosal1878 neuropathical1892 ?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 94 Jn alle maner neruous causes, where þat a man douteþ of grete akeþ wheþer þat it be present or forto cumme, a man moste enoint þe pacient aboute þe necke. 1699 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 21 292 The Effects [are] therefore to be more peculiarly appropriated to such Nervous Diseases, as are more intense. 1734 G. Cheyne (title) On nervous diseases. 1739 J. Huxham Ess. Fevers (1750) ii. 26 The Constitution of the Solids and Fluids..may be so far depressed as to bring on the low Influent, or slow nervous Fever. 1768 J. Wesley Jrnl. 4 Jan. (1827) III. 302 It is the most efficacious medicine in nervous disorders. 1787 H. More Let. June (1925) 120 A very tedious nervous headache has made me less than ever qualified to traffic with you. 1807 A. Putnam in Danvers Hist. Soc. Coll. (1917) V. 57 Mr. David Tapley is very sick with the nervous fever. 1813 L. Hunt in Examiner 22 Feb. 113/2 It was a disorder of what is called the nervous species... A nervous consumption was apprehended. 1817 J. H. Curtis Treat. on Ear 72 Even the most difficult of the whole of this class of deafness, that which is termed nervous deafness, may..be arrested in its progress. 1857 J. A. Symonds Let. 16 Nov. (1967) I. 125 I must..not work much these trials since yesterday I had the same sort of nervous headache. 1869 R. T. Claridge Cold-water Cure 195 A severe nervous fever ensued. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 415 In all nervous cases the determination of the dose is a matter of experiment. 1924 H. Crane Let. 23 Sept. (1965) 190 The sneezing and nervous fever..begin to subside. 1973 E. Berckman Victorian Album 142 The thought of any considerable threat to her happiness..is always enough to give me a nervous headache. b. Involving the nerves or the mind; esp. designating properties or conditions attributed to the nerves. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [adjective] > affecting or concerned with nerval1636 nervous1804 nervo-muscular1833 1804 Gentleman's Mag. 74 i. 219 You have an unequivocal proof of nervous sympathy. 1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. vii. 100 With all the eagerness of the most nervous irritability. View more context for this quotation 1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. i. i. §1 29 Labour is either bodily or mental; or, to express the distinction more comprehensively,..either muscular or nervous. 1879 G. M. Beard in N.Y. Med. Jrnl. 29 225 (title) The nature and diagnosis of neurasthenia (nervous exhaustion). 1927 ‘R. Crompton’ William—in Trouble viii. 207 He's suffering from nervous exhaustion. 1942 Amer. Observer 2 Feb. 2/3 Some have noted principally Hitler's faith in himself and in his mission, others his stupendous nervous energy and power of will. 1979 Shakespeare Q. 30 217 Lady Macbeth exhausted her nervous strength rather quickly in this production. 1990 A. Beevor Inside Brit. Army ii. 15 For a platoon sergeant with a hopeless intake, the prospect of ‘passing off the square’ in week five..is liable to induce a severe case of nervous strain. 1999 M. Pendergrast Uncommon Grounds vi. 96 Named and popularized by Dr. George Beard, neurasthenia supposedly involved an exhaustion of the body's limited supply of ‘nervous energy’. 7. Of the nature of a nerve or nerve tissue; of, relating to, or consisting of nerves or nerve tissue.See also nervous system n. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > [adjective] nervousc1475 neuromyic1841 neuric1857 neuromuscular1864 neurine1870 nervose1880 neurovascular1888 intraneural1901 myoneural1905 neuromotor1917 neuromyal1926 c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 24 (MED) Of þe neruous substaunce of þe Nerui obtici is engendrid þe..retina. 1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 75 Whether there be a Nervous and Nutritious Juice? 1684 T. Gibson Anat. Humane Bodies (ed. 2) 13 The true skin..is made up of nervous fibres..closely interwoven..and of a parenchyma that fills up the interstices. 1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen 306 The extreme Tenuity of..nervous Fibre. 1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful iv. §9. 131 The retina, or last nervous part of the eye. 1808 J. Barclay Muscular Motions 254 The course of the nervous branches that are called recurrents. 1844 W. B. Carpenter Animal Physiol. ii. 56 The brain and spinal cord are termed the nervous centres. 1877 M. Foster Text Bk. Physiol. iii. i. 342 The foundation of modern nervous physiology. 1908 Practitioner Oct. 562 Thus Nissl's ‘nervous gray’ has been shown not to be entirely nervous in structure. 1948 New Biol. 4 123 The cutting of all nervous pathways to the mammary site. 1995 N.Y. Times 21 Mar. c 10/2 His idea is that in each cycle a wave of nervous impulses radiates out from around the intralaminar nucleus to all parts of the cortex. 8. Of a medicine: acting on the nerves; alleviating nervous disorders. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations for treating specific parts > [adjective] > for the nerves neurotic1659 nervine1718 nervous1718 neuritic1725 nervose1880 1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 76 Nervous Simples..may be extended to take in all those Parts of the Materia Medica by which the Nerves are affected. 1790 Med. Communications 2 489 I ordered..a cordial or nervous medicine to be taken. 1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton II. xv. 169 She gave me a nervous draught. 1897 Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc. 9 168 The treatment consisted of the administration of nervous sedatives, at first chloralamide, to which later was added hyoscine. 1994 Harrowsmith Mar. 78/3 (advt.) Nervous Sedative, all-natural with organically grown Valerian & Lemon balm extracts... For 50 mL, send $12.90 + $2 S & H. 9. a. Of a person or temperament: excitable, highly strung, easily agitated, anxious, timid; hypersensitive; worried, anxious (about); afraid, apprehensive (of).nervous wreck: see Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > [adjective] > nervous or easily agitated agitable1603 wincing1603 nervous1740 nervo-sanguineous1807 alarmable1813 intense1817 tense1821 finely-strung1841 flutterable1891 nerve-ridden1892 shockable1893 the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [adjective] > nervous nervous1740 nerve-shaken1818 twitchety1859 nervy1873 trepidatious1904 all of a wonk1918 spooky1926 squirrelly1928 jittery1931 spooked1937 hinky1956 psyched1961 nattery1966 the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > affected by neurosis nervous1740 neurotic1886 1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen Pref. 1 The..Consumptive, or Nervous Valetudinarian-low-livers. 1763 Brit. Mag. Aug. 406/1 The ladies were too narvous to venture further than the entrance of the cavern. 1783 S. Johnson Let. 24 Nov. (1994) IV. 249 A tender, irritable, and as it is not very properly called a nervous constitution. 1812 J. W. Croker in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. 39 A disposition naturally anxious and nervous. 1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. xi. 279 He was at that moment so nervous, that he had cut himself slightly through the trembling of his hand. 1916 G. B. Shaw Pygmalion iii. 154 Higgins:..Dont be nervous about it. Pitch it in strong. Clara (all smiles): I will. Good-bye. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 26 Oct. 355/3 Nervous of attempting train or tramcar with their strange charge. 1946 J. Hersey Hiroshima iv. 113 She was nervous, and any sudden noise made her put her hands quickly to her throat. 1988 M. Chabon Myst. Pittsburgh i. 9 I was nervous and drank more than I ate. 1995 Farmers Weekly 31 Mar. 35/5 I have to say I am nervous of getting whole-crop wrong and will have to join the whole-crop section of the Maize Growers Association to ensure I am up to speed on the subject. b. Of animals (esp. horses): easily upset or agitated; wary, frightened, timid. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > [adjective] > afraid of afearedOE afraidc1350 adoubteda1470 frightened1827 timid1833 nervous1848 1848 R. L. Allen Domest. Animals 148 Some horses are nervous, easily excited, and start at every unusual noise or object. 1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 315/1 The public..is being trotted up and down in front of Home Rule in the belief that, like a nervous horse, it can be familiarized with the alarming object. 1906 J. London White Fang v. iv. 309 The horse became frightened and backed and plunged away. It grew more nervous and excited every moment. 1975 J. L. Anderson Night of Silent Drums iv.xiii. 341 A nervous, thirsty young pearly-eyed thrasher, called t'rushie in the Creole dialect, tried to get a drink of water. 1991 Dogs Today Mar. 26/4 9.00 am: Go over the M25 and find a very nervous and thin Jack Russell waiting for us. 2000 Pets Mar. 53/1 One of the best ways to soothe nervous pets is with flower essences. c. In extended use and figurative. ΚΠ 1919 J. Reed Ten Days that shook World iii. 59 The city was nervous, starting at every sharp sound. 1952 J. Steinbeck East of Eden xxiii. 288 A gray nervous cloud was scurrying eastward. 1980 A. Kernan Death of Literature vi. 150 Television is a nervous, continuous collage. 1989 N.Y. Woman Oct. 108/2 We celebrate New York as a nervous, jittery place, famous for its edge. 1999 BBC Music Mag. Apr. 75/2 The music is dramatic from the start: dissonant wind above nervous violins and pulsating bass. 2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 24 Nov. iv. 5/1 In this nervous time, the goading and counterpunching taking place with such deadly intensity over Iraq constitute part of a shadow war. d. Stock Market. Of money: invested cautiously at only short-term risk. Of trading on a stock market: characterized or dominated by apprehension over uncertainties in the market. Of a financial market: characterized or dominated by apprehensive trading.Cf. quot. 1929 at sense A. 11. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [adjective] > invested > cautious safety first1927 nervous1933 society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market sensitive1813 bearish1827 light1827 quiet1833 easy1836 soft1849 weak1856 steady1857 buoyant1868 sick1870 swimming1870 featureless1879 bullish1882 firm1887 gravelly1887 technical1889 pippy1892 manipulated1903 thin1931 volatile1931 trendless1939 nervous1955 toppy1961 over-bullish1970 toppish1983 1933 Times 13 Dec. 14/1 Mr. Douglas proceeds upon the assumptions..that nervous capital would resume that long-term investment which will accelerate construction; [etc.]. 1955 Times 13 Aug. 10/2 Fresh nervous selling before Monday's Cabinet meeting kept stock markets dull yesterday. 1979 Washington Post 1 Apr. f17/6 Nervous buying helped push prices of scarce merchandise lower. 1983 Economist 24 Sept. 84/3 Markets were nervous ahead of the latest round of Sino-British talks on Hongkong's future. 1996 Observer 29 Dec. (Sport & Business section) 15/7 If the stock market looks nervous, there will be many products offering stop-loss guarantees. †10. Stimulating to the nerves; exciting. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > [adjective] > characterized by or causing commotive1605 nervous1775 jumpy1883 hectic1904 1775 G. Crabbe Inebriety i. 5 The gentle fair, on nervous tea relies. 1834 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 359 Really I never saw such a nervous sight. 1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters (ed. 3) I. 337 It is a very nervous thing for an ignorant artist. 11. Of feelings, actions, etc.: resulting from or accompanied by nervousness or mental agitation. ΚΠ 1827 W. Scott Jrnl. 10 Aug. (1941) 87 This [is] a morning of fidgety, nervous confusion. 1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton II. xi. 64 With a nervous attempt at a laugh. 1871 W. H. Dixon Tower III. i. 7 Nervous terror often makes men bold. 1915 W. Cather Song of Lark i. i. 6 His nervous, ministerial cough annoyed the doctor. ‘Exactly as if he were going to give out a text,’ he thought. 1925 S. Lewis Martin Arrowsmith xx. 232 The habit of social ease, of dressing, of going places without nervous anticipation. 1929 Economist 26 Oct. 777/1 Many brokers..find that their correspondence nowadays consists very largely of nervous inquiries for adequate explanations of price-declines, followed..by requests as to whether shares should be sold. 1970 N.Y. Mag. 16 Nov. 66/1 Entertainments..reminding us that laughter is alive and well (and not a nervous reaction to some blackness of comedy). 1988 Music & Lett. 69 553 Kennedy uncovered the private man that lay behind the public image, an introspective artist beset with nervous anxieties. 1995 Times 17 June (Mag.) 4/4 Chance acquaintances are greeting each other with the nervous bray that's meant to suggest old matehood. 12. Of physical appearance or parts of the body: manifesting, or betraying, the symptoms of a person's nervousness or agitation; trembling, agitated, restless. ΚΠ 1844 J. H. Ingraham Midshipman vii. 39 There were dark faces with fierce mustaches and glittering eyes thrust towards the table, nervous hands moving in rapid gesticulations. 1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) I. 28 A colourless, youthful face..; large, grave, wistfully-attentive eyes; nervous, uncertain lips; and light hair of a pale, brownish-yellow hue. 1900 Daily News 11 Oct. 3/1 The nervous hand, clenching and unclenching as his passions swayed him. 1992 P. MacCann in First Fictions Introd. 11 192 In the changing room, Albertine would fake fiddling with her clothes, would force indifferent faces, a yawn, while strategically, her nervous eyes aimed into that beauty's tan striptease. †III. In botanical use. 13. Botany. = nervose adj. 4a. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > [adjective] > having or not having veins venose?a1425 venous1626 nervous1668 veiny1681 nervose1753 nerveless1783 veinless1783 nerved1793 nervated1802 trinerved1811 trinervate1813 venulose1821 penninerved1849 penniveined1855 parallelinervate1857 parallelivenous1857 penninervate1857 net-veined1860 basinerved1866 nervate1866 obtectovenose1866 palm-veined1866 parallelinerved1866 parallelivenose1866 parallelinervous1893 pinninervate1893 1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. iv. 78 Herbs of nervous leaves. 1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 52 Seven or more ribs..going through the leaf with some transverse ones, making the leaf very nervous. 1776 J. Lee Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 385 Nervosum, nervous, with Nerves extended from the Base to the Apex. B. n. With plural agreement. With the. Nervous people as a class. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > one who is nervous nervous1775 old maid1851 nervous wreck1871 jitterbug1934 1775 P. M. Freneau To Americans in Poems (1929) 23 No toils should daunt the nervous and the bold. 1827 J. Nicholson Lyre of Ebor 48 Thy healthy mountains, wells, and air, Can cure the nervous. 1884 Overland Monthly Dec. 571/1 In time, the strong and weak, the nervous and the placid,..become imbued with the genial contentedness so characteristic of the town. 1929 Times 8 Nov. 5/4 (advt.) For the nervous and the sleepless, Guinness..‘acts like a soothing balm’. 1999 Guardian 6 Mar. (Weekend Suppl.) 65/5 A standing stone, and a cillinich—a graveyard for children who died before being baptised—marked on the Ordnance Survey map but far enough from the house to be avoided by the nervous. Compounds C1. Forming adjectival compounds, as †nervous-bilious, nervous-looking, nervous-making, †nervous-minded, etc. ΚΠ 1841 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 3) ii. iv. 298 An energetic or excitable temperament, such as the bilious or nervous-bilious. 1846 H. W. Longfellow Jrnl. 9 Apr. in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1886) II. ii. 35 Let us be calm and happy, rather than excitable and nervous-minded. 1855 A. S. Stevens Long Look Ahead 99 The horse was a large, strong-jointed, nervous-looking creature. 1859 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1854–8 6 291 The electrical nervous-muscular sensibility of man. 1875 E. M. Hale Materia Medica 494 J. B. McK., merchant, about forty years of age, nervous-bilious temperament. 1939 F. A. Kirkpatrick Latin Amer. xxviii. 345 The author, Francisco Madero, a nervous-looking little man. 1971 K. Awoonor This Earth, my Brother ii. 24 Now and then a man trailed in a pickup, or a nervous-looking undernourished girl who had appeared in his office looking for a job. 1990 Atlantic Nov. 25/3 The latest of them..looks to be Sondheim's most nervous-making project yet. 1996 J. C. Oates We were Mulvaneys 35 A shy frowning nervous-handed boy. C2. nervous breakdown n. sudden decline in mental health, esp. when resulting in inability to carry on normal activities; an instance of this; also in extended use and figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > impairment of mental powers > aboulia or psychasthenia neurasthenia1833 abulia1848 neuradynamia1848 neurastheny1849 tonelessness1873 aboulomania1883 psychoparesis1883 nervous breakdown1884 psychasthenia1900 1884 Longman's Mag. Christmas No. 73 Her husband was suddenly prostrated with some kind of nervous breakdown. 1933 W. B. Wolfe Nerv. Breakdown (1934) i. 2 In a nervous breakdown the whole personality declares a moratorium of normal activities, and both body and soul join in a cry for help. 2000 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 26/3 This is..a ‘nervous breakdown’ of the railways. Nervous Nellie n. [popularized by use in U.S. politics, especially as applied to Frank B. Kellogg (1856–1937), U.S. politician.] slang (chiefly U.S.) an overly timid, cautious, or fearful person; one who fusses unnecessarily. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > timidity > [noun] > one who is timid sheep1542 trembler1552 sheep's hearta1616 mouse1839 feartie1923 Nervous Nellie1925 1925 N.Y. Herald Tribune 18 Jan. ii. 1/5 [Kellogg] was labeled ‘Nervous Nellie’ by those who were irritated at his maneuvering during the League of Nations fight. 1967 Canadian 2 Sept. 13 They're window washers and theirs is not a job for nervous nellies. 1995 Denver Post 22 Jan. b9/2 I tend to tune out the Nervous Nellie skiers who complain about the way they dress or the noise boards make on hard snow. 2002 N.Y. Times 15 Nov. iv. 14/3 In a broadcast last week, the president said that ‘there's a lot of nervous Nellies at the Pentagon’ when it comes to taking military action. nervous stomach n. (the condition of having) a stomach or digestive system which is easily disturbed by anxiety, dietary change, etc. ΚΠ 1833 R. Fletcher Brain & Nerv. Disturbances xiii. 207 No fact is more clear, than the great value of the practice of changing the air, in the nervous stomach cases in question. 1882 Freeborn (Minnesota) County Standard 31 Aug. 3/6 A ‘nervous’ stomach is irritated by food which a healthy baby could easily digest. 1925 Social Forces 4 441/1 He refers to..the gastro-intestinal theory of neuroses, without referring to the authors of..The Nervous Stomach. 1997 C. P. Dancey & S. Backhouse IBS i. 3 During this time my nervous stomach was completely out of control. The diarrhoea was so bad I couldn't leave the house, I felt very nauseous and had a lot of stomach pain. nervous tension n. mental or emotional strain; a (supposed) condition of the nerves associated with this. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > nervous tension nervous tension1869 1869 Proc. Royal Soc. 1868–9 17 115 The nervous tension at that moment may be conceived: what would be seen? what call for action made? 1936 Discovery Nov. 357/2 His nervous tension is surely not lessened if precautions are taken against his actually watching the operation [on himself]. 1983 J. Hennessy Torvill & Dean 75 Save for a little bending and stretching, more to relieve nervous tension than anything else, he does nothing. nervous tic n. a tic caused by (or attributed to) nervous dysfunction; (in extended use) a repetitive action, esp. one performed out of nervousness; a habitual response. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > tic or twitch spasm1477 vellication1665 subsultus1696 tic douloureux1800 tic1822 jerking1827 live blood1834 nervous tic1858 jactitation1861 habit spasm1888 myokymia1901 fasciculation1938 1858 O. S. Leland Beatrice i. ii. 16 Pes. Is he not an epileptic? Mrs. F. No; he has only a nervous tic! 1871 New Englander & Tale Rev. July 434 Her mouth, though delicately formed, had been ‘slightly drawn by a nervous tic, which caused her to make grimaces when speaking.’ 1944 Slavonic & East European Rev. Amer. Ser. 3 118 His cheek twitches with a nervous tic, and his hands tremble on his knees. 1994 Independent on Sunday 13 Nov. (Review Suppl.) 34/4 Curzon's pre-marital trouser-dropping was a nervous tic. nervous wreck n. colloquial a person or animal suffering from extreme nervousness; a person whose mental or emotional strength has declined. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > fear > nervousness or uneasiness > [noun] > nervousness > one who is nervous nervous1775 old maid1851 nervous wreck1871 jitterbug1934 1871 Ladies' Repository Mar. 231/1 A man may drink moderately but steadily all his life..but his daughters become nervous wrecks. 1906 W. James Let. 9 May (1920) II. 251 I didn't hear one pathetic word uttered at the scene of disaster, though of course the crop of ‘nervous wrecks’ is very likely to come in a month or so. 1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep i. vi. 110 He started at every noise. He was the very model of a nervous wreck. 1997 Your Horse Nov. 42/3 The horse was a nervous wreck when the farrier came and next time I rode out she reared in the middle of the road and lamed herself. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.n.a1400
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