nerve

CEFRB1

/nɜːv/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A body part carrying messages between the brain and body.

  2. 02

    noun

    Courage to do something difficult.

Examples

  • You've got a nerve to say such a thing!

  • You have a lot of nerve!

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /neːv/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A neuron.

  2. A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood.

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

More examples

In context

  • He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.

  • Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves.

  • The nerves can be seen through the skin.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She had the blank to speak in front of the large crowd without any fear.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Recorded since circa 1374 as Middle English nerve, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew. Verb sense 4 (“to get on (someone’s) nerves”) is chiefly a semantic loan from German nerven.