nerve
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The courage to carry on.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nurvIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɝv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The courage to carry on
Courage; boldness; audacity; gall.
in the plural
Mental agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotions.
Patience; stamina; endurance, fortitude.
in the plural
One's neural structures considered collectively as, and conceptually equated with, one's psyche.
A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.
verb
Get ready for something difficult or unpleasant
transitive
To give courage.
transitive
To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.
transitiveinformal
To perform a neurectomy on (someone or something).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The courage to carry on
Used this way, nerve is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Brave and principled
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use nerve
- “He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited.”noun
- “The nerves can be seen through the skin.”noun
- “Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An uneasy psychological state.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Harmful pressure on a nerve (especially in nerves that pass over rigid prominences).
Hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve.
The terminal structure of an axon that does not end at a synapse.
The terminal structure of an axon that does not end at a synapse.
Repeated and long-term nerve compression (usually in nerves near joints that are subject to inflammation or swelling).
A threadlike extension of a nerve cell.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The electrical discharge that travels along a nerve fiber.
The sensory and control apparatus consisting of a network of nerve cells.
A small motor nerve supplying the lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
Arises from two sets of roots (cranial and spinal) that unite to form the nerve.
The lowest pair of spinal nerves.
Cranial nerve that supplies facial muscles.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: get ready for something difficult or unpleasant
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.