NERVOUS • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Nervous

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/nˈərvəs/ Listen

adjective

Nervous adj.

1.

Possessing nerve; sinewy; strong; vigorous. "Nervous arms."

2.

Possessing or manifesting vigor of mind; characterized by strength in sentiment or style; forcible; spirited; as, a nervous writer.

3.

Of or pertaining to the nerves; seated in the nerves; as, nervous excitement; a nervous fever.

4.

Having the nerves weak, diseased, or easily excited; subject to, or suffering from, undue excitement of the nerves; easily agitated or annoyed. "Poor, weak, nervous creatures."

5.

Sensitive; excitable; timid.

6.

Apprehensive; as, a child nervous about his mother's reaction to his bad report card. "Our aristocratic class does not firmly protest against the unfair treatment of Irish Catholics, because it is nervous about the land."

Nervous fever (Med.), a low form of fever characterized by great disturbance of the nervous system, as evinced by delirium, or stupor, disordered sensibility, etc.

Nervous system (Anat.), the specialized coordinating apparatus which endows animals with sensation and volition. In vertebrates it is often divided into three systems: the central, brain and spinal cord; the peripheral, cranial and spinal nerves; and the sympathetic. See Brain, Nerve, Spinal cord, under Spinal, and Sympathetic system, under Sympathetic.

Nervous temperament, a condition of body characterized by a general predominance of mental manifestations.

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Etymology of 'Nervous'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Nervous" Quotes from Famous Books

... up there hurrying from one finger-exercise to another as if she could not get enough of that exquisite amusement, and Wili is seated at her side in a similar condition of nervous industry, waiting for ...

— Uncle Titus and His Visit to the Country • Johanna Spyri

... trifle nervous when he went to the front to shoot, he did his best to control it. Taking as careful aim as possible, ...

— The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch - The Cowboys' Double Round-Up • Edward Stratemeyer

... was seated down on the deck against one of the guns, and Mesty, putting on the look of a demon, extended above him his, long nervous arm, with the sharp knife clutched, as if ready every instant to strike it into his heart. The Spanish captain felt his situation anything but pleasant. He was then interrogated as to the number of men in the ship, officers, etc, ...

— Mr. Midshipman Easy • Frederick Marryat

... because they have an idea of the location of what they want and blindly strike out for it with a certain nervous desire to cover the intermediate ground as quickly ...

— Sam Lambert and the New Way Store - A Book for Clothiers and Their Clerks • Unknown

... flashed to and fro, and then fixed on Mulvey and his Mexican companion. That glance singled out these two, and the sudden rush of nervous men proved it. Mulvey and the sheep-herder were left alone in the center ...

— The Man of the Forest • Zane Grey

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