stinging plant, Old English netele, from Proto-Germanic *natilon (cognates: Old Saxon netila, Middle Dutch netele, Dutch netel, German Nessel, M.Da. nædlæ "nettle"), diminutive of *naton, perhaps from PIE root *ned- "to twist, knot" (see net (n.)). "[N]ettles or plants of closely related genera such as hemp were used as a source of fiber" [Watkins].
c. 1400, "to beat with nettles," from nettle (n.). Figurative sense of "irritate, provoke" is from 1560s. Related: Nettled; nettling.
Nettled. Teized, provoked, out of temper. He or she has pissed on a nettle; said of one who is pevish or out of temper. [Grose, "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
双语例句
1. The stinging nettle has a square stem and little hairs.
荨麻长有四方茎和细小茸毛。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Nettle grows plentifully on any rich waste ground.
荨麻在任何肥沃的荒地上都能茂盛地生长。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Falsehood like a nettle stings those who meddle with it.
谎言似荨麻,玩弄会刺手.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. They are all heroes grasping the nettle.
他们都是迎着艰险上的英雄.
来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5. And that is what Mr Pollet and Dr Nettle have done.
