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Nervy   Listen
adjective
nervy  adj.  (compar. nervier; superl. nerviest)  
1.
Strong; sinewy. "His nervy knees."
2.
Offensively bold or presumptuous; insolent; cheeky; pushy.
3.
Exhibiting courage or daring; bold; plucky.
4.
Nervous (6); apprehensive; edgy (1).






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Nervy" Quotes from Famous Books



... "You are a nervy bunch of boys. Never saw anything to equal you," gasped the engineer. "I can't forgive myself for getting ...
— The Pony Rider Boys in the Ozarks • Frank Gee Patchin

... of the new arrivals evidently daunted the Huns. One of them immediately turned tail. The other tried to do so but was intercepted by Blaine who, making an absolutely nervy side-loop, came up under the Fokker and began again discharging a deadly rain ...
— Our Pilots in the Air • Captain William B. Perry

... said Weary, appeased. "I promised her you'd all be there on time, if I had to hog-tie the whole bunch and haul yuh over in the hayrack." He dried his face and hands leisurely and regarded the solemn group. "Oh, mamma! you're sure a nervy-looking bunch ...
— The Lonesome Trail and Other Stories • B. M. Bower

... sport I ever knew," he said, "and I am nothing but a rotten squealer! Forgive me, and I will try to be good. But, Bo! that did hurt!" The tears came to his eyes once more. "He was such a nervy ...
— L. P. M. - The End of the Great War • J. Stewart Barney

... how it is here, Nervy. Farmin' somehow don't suit my talons. I need to be flung more 'mong people to fetch out what's in me. Then thar's Marann, which is gittin' to be nigh on to a growd-up woman; an' the child need the ...
— The Best American Humorous Short Stories • Various

... ushers of Martius: before him He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears. Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie, Which being advanc'd, declines, and ...
— Characters of Shakespeare's Plays • William Hazlitt

... are the ushers of Marcius: before him He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears; Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth lie; Which, being advanc'd, declines, and then ...
— The Tragedy of Coriolanus • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]

... excuse for asking permission to ride to town to post a letter. This, in itself, was an extremely nervy request and under ordinary conditions almost certain to be profanely refused. But Buck had a shrewd notion that after the failure of Lynch's plans, the foreman might welcome the chance of talking ...
— Shoe-Bar Stratton • Joseph Bushnell Ames

... crept forward like a stage murderer, peeping this way and that, but making for the car. Once he looked straight at where I was crouching, and I was scared stiff, because a brick ain't any fair match for one of them new-fangled pistols at six yards or so; but I guess he was a bit nervy himself, and he didn't make out anything unusual in my direction. Then he dodged right round the car to the back, and returned on the side nearest to me. I suppose he reckoned all was safe by that time, ...
— One Wonderful Night - A Romance of New York • Louis Tracy

... "You're rather a Nervy Nat yourself, aren't you?" her droll mother struck in. "As a Christian martyr, you would have had the Colosseum to yourself; every tiger and lion in Rome would have taken to the tall ...
— The Pride of Palomar • Peter B. Kyne

... "It's another feather in his cap! He'll help the chap out of the drink, and everybody in town will say it was a nervy and daring piece of heroism. Oh, I'm slow! ...
— Rival Pitchers of Oakdale • Morgan Scott

... downtown before we gave in and promised to do anything he wanted. We had to break into the chapel and stow him away in a little grilled alcove in the attic on the side of the auditorium where he could hear everything. Sounds uncomfortable, but don't imagine it was. That nervy slavedriver made us lug over two dozen sofa pillows, a rug or two, a bottle of moisture and three pies to while away the time with. That was where we first began to think of revenge. We got it, too—only we got it the way Samson did when he jerked the columns ...
— At Good Old Siwash • George Fitch

... at this attitude.] How does it disgrace you? Because I like to see a high-bred, clean, nervy, sweet little four-legged gee play the ...
— Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: The New York Idea • Langdon Mitchell

... be blessing us in a day or two for prying you out of your rut. You are the right sort. You were never cut out for a clerk! By Jove! You should hear the bosun tell how you bowled over Carew, himself, with your empty gun! You are a nervy one, all right. I'll wager this business ahead of us will be more to your liking than the one you ...
— Fire Mountain - A Thrilling Sea Story • Norman Springer

... glass of water you handed him," answered Ferguson promptly. "A nervy sleight-of-hand, but ...
— The Red Seal • Natalie Sumner Lincoln

... owned the big place, and they'd been talkin' about me just the day before. After that it didn't take long for the Commodore and me to get a line on each other, and when I finds out he's Roaring Dick, the nervy old chap that stood out on the front porch of his ship all through the muss at Santiago Bay and hammered the daylights out of the Spanish fleet, I gives ...
— Shorty McCabe • Sewell Ford

... us to subscribe to the fund," she explained, "and then they think each class ought to give an entertainment. Not a bit nervy, are they? Well, of course 19— has got to take the lead, and I've fairly racked my brains to think what we can do. Now it's no trouble to you to have lovely, comical ideas, and if you'll only help me out with this entertainment, I'll be ...
— Betty Wales Senior • Margaret Warde

... hotel. If you aim to hold her as a witness you can appoint a guard—an' I'm the guard. D'you get me? 'Cause if there's any misunderstandin' lingerin' in them scrambled aigs you use fer brains, I'll just start out by tellin' the boys what a hell of a brave arrest you pulled off, an' about the nervy stand you made agin' odds to guard your prisoners when I yipped at you from the brush. Then, after they get through havin' their fun out of you, I'll just waste a shell on ...
— The Texan - A Story of the Cattle Country • James B. Hendryx

... any of this to Mrs. Mears. Poor soul! She's got troubles enough, right in her joints. Rheumatism. Uh-huh. Most of the time she has to get around in a wheel chair. Ain't that fierce? And she was mighty nervy about sendin' Stubby off. Wouldn't let him say a word about exemption. No, sir! 'Never mind me, Edgar,' says she. 'You kill a lot of Huns. I'll get along somehow.' That's talkin', ain't it? And her livin' with a sister-in-law that has ...
— Torchy and Vee • Sewell Ford

... it now. When she chooses her husband, she'll choose the right one, and she'll have her father's money; it won't matter very much whether he's rich or not. All I ask is that he should be straight and clean of mind, and nervy, and I guess Ida will see to that. When she tells me that she is satisfied, I'll just try to make the most ...
— The Gold Trail • Harold Bindloss

... man. You're highly strung and nervy, and a poet and all that sort of thing. I'm no better than a prize ox, and don't know what nerves mean. I can sleep anywhere, anyhow. If you can sleep in a submarine, you bet you can in a nice, airy Elizabethan room, even if it is haunted. But it's not; that's ...
— The Grey Room • Eden Phillpotts

... Vail, Joe Willis, an' thet little Cairns boy—a nervy kid! they, with Cairns leadin', tried to buck thet herd round to the pocket. It was a wild, fool idee. I couldn't do nothin'. The boys got hemmed in between the steers an' the wash—thet they hedn't no chance to see, either. Vail an' Willis was run down right before ...
— Riders of the Purple Sage • Zane Grey

... doubt, the ones who were so very curious and who so rudely demanded his name were visitors in New Orleans. More than that, from their appearance, they were people who would not think of such acts at home, but now were eager to know the Northern lad who by one nervy and daring act had made himself generally talked about ...
— Frank Merriwell Down South • Burt L. Standish

... any description in the city was a saloon and gambling house known as the "Blue Goose," owned by John Waring and Luke Ravel. Both men were as nervy as they make 'em and several nicks in the butts of their revolvers testified mutely as to their prowess. Their place was like all other dens, and consisted of the usual bar and lunch counter in one room, ...
— Danger Signals • John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady

... sure is real!" cried Bob, as he saw the serpent writhing about. "And whoever has him for a pet must be nervy." ...
— Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Firing Line - The Motor Boys Fighting for Uncle Sam • Clarence Young

... rather nervy up there. I'm off to Europe to-morrow on the City of Boston, and I should like to see you before ...
— The Box with Broken Seals • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... "We're just nervy, and sensationalism helps. It takes one out of one's self for a moment; ...
— Mufti • H. C. (Herman Cyril) McNeile

... chair and faced the expectant throng the few trite remarks which he had in mind all but fled when his eyes fell for the first time upon his bride buttoned into her "going away gown." As he mounted the chair his face wore the set smile of the man who means to die a nervy death on the gallows. His voice sounded strained and unnatural to himself ...
— The Lady Doc • Caroline Lockhart

... my happiness as well as my duty was to work. He said my 'peevishness,' and my 'nervy fits'—wasn't it rude of him!—came from idleness. He did, Mr. Gibbon, he said it in ...
— Mrs. Day's Daughters • Mary E. Mann

... "He's very nervy," said Marguerite briefly and significantly. "I'd better light the lamp; I shall see better." She seemed to be speaking to herself. She stood on a chair and lifted the chimney off the central lamp. George absently passed her ...
— The Roll-Call • Arnold Bennett

... turned to the map against the wall, Ffoulkes and Tony following him. They stood close to his elbow whilst his slender, nervy hand wandered along the shiny surface of the varnished paper. At last he placed ...
— El Dorado • Baroness Orczy

... "He's a nervy one—see her stay up!" said the officer of the deck, who was standing beside the wheel, and had glasses on the periscope. And then, hurriedly: "I don't like the looks of her, captain—it looks like a phony periscope to me—as if there ...
— The U-boat hunters • James B. Connolly

... summer singing. Sometimes the alert chirp of the cardinal suddenly smote the ear from some neighboring tree; but he would pass, a flash of crimson, from one garden to the next, and with another chirp or two be gone for days. The nervy, unmusical waking cry of the mocking-bird was often the first daybreak sound. At times a myriad downy seed floated everywhere, now softly upward, now gently downward, and the mellow rays of sunset turned it into a warm, golden snow-fall. By night a soft glow from distant ...
— Dr. Sevier • George W. Cable

... a fool!" he said aloud, shaking his head and dashing his hand across his eyes as if he were trying to sweep something away. "I'm nervy, that's what it is," he went on, still speaking aloud. "I'm ...
— Changing Winds - A Novel • St. John G. Ervine

... the woman who was obviously his queen. His voice rose in shrill disagreement and his scowl was as fierce as the Zara's. Threatening her, he was, the nervy devil. He clenched his fists and raised his arms in an angry gesture, pacing the floor in his fury and thrusting out a pugnacious chin while he raved. This Zara woman rose higher in her cushions, and the look that flashed from those ...
— The Copper-Clad World • Harl Vincent

... time is perhaps a little more nervy than the day. You get your head up and look about, and see the flat dim country with its ruined houses and its lumps of stuff that are dead bodies and its long vague lines of sandbags, and the searchlights going like white ...
— Mr. Britling Sees It Through • H. G. Wells

... blistered heels from much walking. And unless we did find it, thereby giving the gentlemen of the mask some incentive to match themselves against us once more, we were not likely to have the opportunity of breaking up a nervy bunch of ...
— Raw Gold - A Novel • Bertrand W. Sinclair

... without nerve and yet nervy," explained Larry. "If he loses his sense of equilibrium up there, it's all off; yet he has to be always ready to take a ...
— Penny of Top Hill Trail • Belle Kanaris Maniates

... we never went there before. They'll think it's awfully nervy fer us to come buttin' in at ...
— The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays • Walter Ben Hare

... got below the surface at last! I thought I might with that thrust. Yes, I saw him last night. I didn't know what the devil the fellow was up to, but I thought I'd let him play out his game. It was a right nervy trick, so far as it went, but unfortunately the rebels came in before I discovered what it ...
— My Lady of Doubt • Randall Parrish

... "Nervy guy," the Kid commented, "He might easily get creased, standin' there yellin'. Me, I wouldn't put it past ...
— The Boy Ranchers on Roaring River - or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers • Willard F. Baker

... episode in the express car had been brought to a close by Jim Cummings leaping from the car, the train moved on, and left him alone, the possessor of nearly $100,000. The game had been a desperate one, and well played, and nervy and cool as he was, the desperado was forced to seat himself on a pile of railroad ties, until he could regain possession of himself, for he trembled in every limb, and shook as with a chill. He pulled himself together, however, and picking up his valise, with its ...
— Jim Cummings • Frank Pinkerton

... the blow of that bullet caused an indenture of the skull, which might be operated upon and successfully raised so as to restore his reason. The chances are ninety-nine to a hundred against success, and only the most skilful surgeon and nervy one could accomplish ...
— Buffalo Bill's Spy Trailer - The Stranger in Camp • Colonel Prentiss Ingraham

... and put the light on the ground to see what it was that the fugitive had dropped. He thought he heard a smothered exclamation behind him and turned swiftly. But nobody came within the radius of his lamp. He must be getting nervy, he thought, and continued ...
— The Daffodil Mystery • Edgar Wallace

... 2nd Matrosen (Naval) division in front of us, and they were really an enterprising lot. Undoubtedly our pressure upon Paschendaele was making the German nervy on this sector, and he was under an obligation to keep alive and display a vigorous activity. Further, his morale was considerably heightened by the Teutonic success in Italy which his wireless sets ...
— The Seventh Manchesters - July 1916 to March 1919 • S. J. Wilson

... other abominable forms; but my eyes slowly informed me of the fact, which I took in reluctantly and with extreme disgust, that the whole formed one living monster, a revolting compound of a large paunch with eyes, and a multitude of nervy, snaky, out-reaching, twining, grasping, tentacular arms, several feet in length, I should think, if extended, but then lying in a crowded undulating heap; the creature was dying, and the iridescence was passing over what seemed to be its body in waves of colour, ...
— The Hawaiian Archipelago • Isabella L. Bird

... the regiment it was lying in front of the Court-House, from the steeple of which some sixty or seventy feet high, the flags of our signal-corps were most actively wagging. It occurred to me that those signal-men were mighty nervy fellows. They were a beautiful mark for the rebel batteries, which were evidently doing their best to knock them out. The steeple was a plain, old-fashioned affair, having an open belfry, which seemed to be ...
— War from the Inside • Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock

... along," said the compliant and nervy captain, "and don't stand thar' no'ratin' about 'em—'ceptin' liver," he added. "I hain't got so low down yit 's ...
— Vesty of the Basins • Sarah P. McLean Greene

... was, though, that stood out for makin' the nervy getaway? Auntie. Uh-huh! All this panicky talk by Meyers and the yacht captain only warmed up her sportin' blood. What right, she wanted to know, had a snippy little gunboat to hold up a private party of perfectly ...
— Wilt Thou Torchy • Sewell Ford

... gloomy, nervy, realising to the full the horror of the whole business; his face drawn very fine, and intense sadness in his very kind eyes; also Percival Phillips—that deep thinker on war, who probably knew more about it (p. 033) than all the rest of the ...
— An Onlooker in France 1917-1919 • William Orpen

... intermittent fire," I ordered, as I walked among them. "Not too much of it, or the Turk will think we're nervy, and begin to suspect—not too little, or he'll wonder if ...
— Tell England - A Study in a Generation • Ernest Raymond

... "No—I was always nervy and shy and repressed. But this is a vicious circle, don't you see? A thing is called a vicious circle in medicine when cause and effect are so closely linked that you can't tell which is which. At home I was repressed; that was the fashion in my young days. The motto was, 'Children are to be ...
— Captivity • M. Leonora Eyles

... had hard luck, all right enough," Will and Chester heard Tommy say, "but he's a nervy sort of a chap, and he'll take them out ...
— Boy Scouts on the Great Divide - or, The Ending of the Trail • Archibald Lee Fletcher

... not help laughing. "That was rather nervy, I'll admit. But that very fact makes me ...
— The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks • Charles Felton Pidgin

... angry tail refuse not to abide the sinewy stroke, To a roar let all the regions echo answer everywhere, On a nervy neck be tossing that uneasy ...
— The Poems and Fragments of Catullus • Catullus

... trouble. There is not a man, we venture to say, in all Steele but would have stopped to put on his pants before venturing out into the crisp air, but she did not, her whole thought being of the dumb animals imperiled, and it was, indeed, a nervy and ...
— The So-called Human Race • Bert Leston Taylor

... year via Castle Garden and the stock yards palace emigrant car, thousands of proselyted paupers from every pest house of Europe, and the free-love idiots of America. But when Murray gets an act of congress at his back and a squad of nervy, gamy, law-abiding monogamous assistants appointed by the president under that act of congress to knock crosswise and crooked the Jim Crow revelations of Utah and Mormondom, you will see the fur fly, and the fragrant follower of a false prophet will rise up William Riley ...
— Remarks • Bill Nye

... sir," replied Wilson with a smile. "It's a pleasure to command such a nervy crowd as that. You don't need to use the spur. I'm mostly busy putting on the brakes. It would have done your heart good if you could have seen the way they waded into the Huns. That fellow Sheldon particularly is a crackerjack ...
— Army Boys in the French Trenches • Homer Randall

... and left a confession; tried to make him think there wasn't no hope fer him, and he might as well up and tell his share; might git off easier; warned him to look out for a mob if he didn't, maybe, and so on, but it never bothered him at all. He's nervy, all right. Told us to go—that is, he said it again—and swore the Teller was on his way to Chicago, swore he seen him git on the train. Wouldn't say another word tell he got a lawyer. So, 'soon as it was any use, we come up ...
— The Gentleman From Indiana • Booth Tarkington

... fixed it up. But the goings-on. It was Rocky an' his brother Harry. First I'd hear one yell and laugh, an' then the other, like it was some game. An' what do you think the fool game was? I've saw some pretty nervy cusses down in Curry County, but they beat all. They'd got a whoppin' big panther in the trap an' was takin' turns rappin' it on the nose with a light stick. But that wa'n't the point. I just come ...
— The Turtles of Tasman • Jack London

... boy ride," he replied. "He's a nervy kid. I named him well. He'll make a great cowboy. Panhandle Smith. ...
— Valley of Wild Horses • Zane Grey

... a nervy hand, A wrist as strong as a sapling oak, Buried deep in the Malverri sand— To laugh at that, is a sorry joke. Never again your iron grip Shall I feel in my shrinking palm— Tom, Tom, I see your trembling lip; All within is ...
— War Poetry of the South • Various

... of that trunk must of been one sad mutilation. It probably won't ever again be the trunk it once was. Abner had to hustle to get through in one day. I wish I could get the old hound to work for me that way. They'd just got the trunk back when I rode in that night. It was nervy, all right! I asked her if she wasn't afraid he would see the many traces of this ...
— Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson

... has to work out the details for 'em, and when I've stated the whole hideous plot, from the passing of Truckles the Thirsty to the high pride of Katy the Barkeep's Bride, includin' the tale of the stolen character and chuckin' the nervy bluff—well, they didn't any of 'em know what to say. They just stands around gawpin' curious at this sobbin', wabbly kneed old party slumped down there ...
— Odd Numbers - Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe • Sewell Ford

... you were nervy to-night. I wish I could find a woman who was a match for a man in the nervous system. But there isn't one. That's why we are so superior. We've got steel where you've all got fiddle ...
— December Love • Robert Hichens

... a very "nervy" state, as it was felt that ere long the enemy would make another desperate attempt to capture the rest of the mining area, either by direct frontal attack from the East towards Bethune, or by continuing his enveloping movement ...
— The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War 1914 - 1919 - History of the 1/8th Battalion • W.C.C. Weetman

... approved, "and when I sell the mule you'll go along as part of the turn, or I miss my guess. And it will be some turn. There'll be at least two more like you, who'll have to be nervy and know how to fall. ...
— Michael, Brother of Jerry • Jack London

... night had come; though the room was very light with the burning candles; and I found myself glancing behind me, constantly, and then all 'round the room. It was nervy work waiting for that thing to come. Then, suddenly, I was aware of a little, cold wind sweeping over me, coming from behind. I gave one great nerve-thrill, and a prickly feeling went all over the back of my head. Then I hove myself 'round with a sort of stiff jerk, and stared straight against ...
— Carnacki, The Ghost Finder • William Hope Hodgson

... towards the east end of the roof and in the shadow of the chimney. And as I'm a living sinner it's a man crawling towards that blazing arrow. The Indians have not discovered him yet. He is still in the shadow. But they'll see him. God! What a nervy thing to do in the face of all those redskins. ...
— Betty Zane • Zane Grey

... was not going to show the white feather, and Mavis, though rather nervy, preferred to venture forward with the others than to remain by herself, so it ended in their all going on, arm-in-arm. They had worked themselves to such a pitch of excitement that the whole atmosphere seemed charged with the supernatural. ...
— Monitress Merle • Angela Brazil

... grudge against Miss Grant apparently, but it was all right for me till I began to get nervy, ...
— The Guests Of Hercules • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... Helen Burton was startled into animation by this amazingly nervy declaration and half rose from the chair she had been guided to and forced into by Gladwin when she seemed on the verge of swooning at Phelan's refusal to permit her ...
— Officer 666 • Barton W. Currie

... about his little guest. "Oh, you'd bettah not, suh!" she cried in alarm. "Mom Beck doesn't like you a bit. She just hates you! She's goin' to give you a piece of her mind the next time she sees you. I heard her tell Aunt Nervy so." ...
— The Little Colonel • Annie Fellows Johnston

... The nervy Indians showed their white teeth at the praise showered on them, and a moment after, von Hofe appeared excitedly, followed by a stream of Masai and Kikuyu. These gave wild yells of excitement and leaped and danced on the fallen carcasses, while the story of that terrible ...
— The Rogue Elephant - The Boys' Big Game Series • Elliott Whitney

... running motor. She had chosen the battle-front in Flanders as the perfect place for vindicating woman's courage, coolness, and capacity for roughing it. She was determined to leave not one quality of initiative and daring to man's monopoly. If he had worn a decoration for some "nervy" hazardous trait, she came prepared to pluck it from his swelling pride, cut it in two pieces and ...
— Young Hilda at the Wars • Arthur Gleason

... gob named Thompson to accompany Rainey on his "tiger hunt," or whatever it might prove to be. Rainey was well pleased at the choice, for Thompson was a sure shot and a cool, nervy hand ...
— Lost In The Air • Roy J. Snell

... he scared the geese and they lit out, swinging right by grandfather. Grandfather was a nervy hunter. He held his fire till he got the heads of those seven geese right in line, and then he shot and strung 'em all right through the eyes with the ramrod. Granddad couldn't quite see where he had hit 'em, but when the smoke cleared away he saw the seven geese still flying and ...
— Old Plymouth Trails • Winthrop Packard

... must say my heart was pounding pretty hard. It was rather nervy work once we were beyond the town, straining our eyes through the darkness to follow the figure ahead. Occasionally a sentry popped up from apparently nowhere. A whispered word and then on we went again. I really can't say how far we walked like this; it seemed positively miles. ...
— Fanny Goes to War • Pat Beauchamp

... there's not much stump about Elma, this journey!" returned Cornelia, cheerily. "There's nothing to it but a little shock to the constitootion. Elma's constitootion is nervy. What she needs is re-pose. Perfect re-pose! If I were you, I'd send up a note to-morrow, and stay quietly at home. It would naturally upset her some to see you, and she'd ...
— Flaming June • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... throughout the county, and again that he was trying to pay his addresses to Dorcas, who, it may readily be imagined, would have nothing to do with him. Denny was a man of thirty-five, a "hoss" trader when he worked, which was but seldom, and as sly and nervy as he was unprincipled. ...
— An Undivided Union • Oliver Optic

... M'nervy don't keer one way nor another, but my sister air plumb beset fur the jury of ...
— The Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain and Other Stories • Charles Egbert Craddock

... to Miss Todd's credit that she was able to take her fresh duties quite calmly, and without any fuss or exhibition of nerves. She was not a nervy woman, to begin with, and she had made a great point of cultivating self-control. With her tall figure, clear grey eyes, bright complexion, and abundant chestnut hair, she made a very favourable impression upon those parents who had brought their daughters back to school in person. ...
— A harum-scarum schoolgirl • Angela Brazil

... bare-headed or cloud-capped, it would be better to blunder upward than lounge all day in camp and eat Sybaritic dinners. We longed for the nervy climb. We must have it. "Up!" said tingling blood to brain. "Dash through the forest! Grasp the crag, and leap the cleft! Sweet flash forth the streamlets from granite fissures. To breathe the winds that ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 62, December, 1862 • Various

... Nicholson still remained silent. "Do you think, because one or two of us are a bit 'nervy', that we are really afraid? Not in the least. For my part, if I've got to die, I shall take good care that one or two of those black heathen come with me!" She flung open a drawer, and, taking out a revolver, thumped it energetically upon ...
— The Native Born - or, The Rajah's People • I. A. R. Wylie

... of life to play the spy is an ignoble role; yet the work has to be done, and there must be men to do it. There always are such men—nervy fellows who swing themselves into the saddle when their commander lifts his hand, and ride a mad race, with Death at the horse's flank every mile of the way. They are the unknown heroes ...
— Last of the Great Scouts - The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill"] • Helen Cody Wetmore

... "Pretty nervy," muttered Captain Dodge under his breath, and murmurs of admiration could be heard from all the members of the crew gathered nearby. No one spoke, however, for all eyes and all interest were focused on the feat ...
— The Go Ahead Boys and the Treasure Cave • Ross Kay

... a curious child, but a nervy one. How'd you like to see if you can get the Key? If you do we'll go to a hotel and have a real meal, and we can talk about ...
— Bab: A Sub-Deb • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... they do! Now don't say they're nervy. After all, Gopher Prairie standards are as reasonable to Gopher Prairie as Lake Shore Drive standards are to Chicago. And there's more Gopher Prairies than there are Chicagos. Or Londons. And——I'll tell you the whole story: They think you're showing off when you say 'American' instead ...
— Main Street • Sinclair Lewis

... front, these shoulders huge, These nervy bull-thewed arms, this silky breast, And these my velvet thighs are manhood's mould robust. Ill favoured I? ...
— Romance of Roman Villas - (The Renaissance) • Elizabeth W. (Elizbeth Williams) Champney

... passed the cross-roads at Guillemont. A pungent smell of gas led to much coughing and sneezing. The air cleared as the road ascended, but shells continued to fly about us, and no one looked particularly happy. There were nervy, irritating moments when waggons in front halted unaccountably; and, just before the railway crossing, Wilde had to go forward and coax a pair of R.E. mules, who refused to pass the four dead horses lying in the ...
— Pushed and the Return Push • George Herbert Fosdike Nichols, (AKA Quex)

... that she was rather nervy," Hunterleys told them. "One of you ought to look after her for an hour ...
— Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... "Times" it was quickly copied and commented upon by the newspapers all over the country. Some of these newspapers in their comments stated that I had more "cheek" than should be allotted to ordinary mortals. Some said "he is a nervy cuss." Others said his back isn't broken. Now and then one could be found that predicted my election. So the matter was discussed, pro and con, for several weeks, not only by the newspapers of Kansas, but whole columns would appear ...
— The Twin Hells • John N. Reynolds

... true, generally, but of course in an infinitely lesser degree, of most of our immigrants. Usually it is the nervy and imaginative men who go to a new country. Our own pioneers were endowed with daring and vision. They had the courage and initiative to leave the scarcely warmed beds of their new-made homes and push farther on into ...
— The Young Man and the World • Albert J. Beveridge



Words linked to "Nervy" :   overstrung, bold, nerve, tense, forward, uptight, restive, cheeky, jittery, brash, high-strung, highly strung, jumpy



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