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• nelson
  nelson

  noun

  a hold in which pressure is applied to the head, back of the neck, and one or both arms of the opponent.
• Nelson
  Nelson

  noun

  Viscount Horatio, 1758–1805, British admiral.

nelson

¹ American  

[nel-suhn] / ˈnɛl sən /

noun

Wrestling.

• nelsons
  plural

1. a hold in which pressure is applied to the head, back of the neck, and one or both arms of the opponent.

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Nelson ² American  

[nel-suhn] / ˈnɛl sən /

noun

1. Viscount Horatio, 1758–1805, British admiral.

2. (John) Byron, 1911–2006, U.S. golf player.

3. Prince Rogers. Prince.

4. a river in central Canada, flowing northeast from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay. 400 miles (645 km) long.

5. a seaport on northern South Island, in New Zealand.

6. a male given name.

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Nelson ¹ British  

/ ˈnɛlsən /

noun

1. a town in NW England, in E Lancashire: textile industry. Pop: 28 998 (2001)

2. a port in New Zealand, on N South Island on Tasman Bay. Pop: 45 300 (2004 est)

3. a river in central Canada, in N central Manitoba, flowing from Lake Winnipeg northeast to Hudson Bay. Length: about 650 km (400 miles)

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Nelson ² British  

/ ˈnɛlsən /

noun

1. Horatio, Viscount Nelson. 1758–1805, British naval commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He became rear admiral in 1797 after the battle of Cape St Vincent and in 1798 almost destroyed the French fleet at the battle of the Nile. He was killed at Trafalgar (1805) after defeating Villeneuve's fleet

2. Willie. born 1933, US country singer and songwriter

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nelson ³ British  

/ ˈnɛlsən /

noun

1. any wrestling hold in which a wrestler places his arm or arms under his opponent's arm or arms from behind and exerts pressure with his palms on the back of his opponent's neck See full nelson half-nelson

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nelsons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of nelson

First recorded in 1885–90; special use of name Nelson

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nelson Nelson

But if Horford and the Celtics can keep the Bucks’ lightning bolt in a full nelson, then Milwaukee’s once-promising season will be in significant peril.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2019

At Poolesville’s practice, Dorsey needed his neck, as he thrust his head inside the crook of a student’s arm and explained the business end of a quarter nelson.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 20, 2015

The relationship between the two antic entertainers is like a half nelson after a series of handshakes.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the four years since Dino Gentili clamped a half nelson on Italy's China trade, he has pushed it from almost zero to $1,000,000-plus a month.

From Time Magazine Archive

All he needed to do was shift his weight and sink the half nelson.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

Their last film together was 2018's "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", an offbeat Oscar-nominated Western starring Tim Blake Nelson, which followed the 1950s Hollywood-set satirical comedy "Hail, Caesar!" in 2016.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Flaco Jiménez’s son told me that Kacey wanted to do an all-Texas thing where Willie Nelson was in the song and Kacey also invited Flaco to play accordion,” said Muñoz, who heard the original demo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

It was the first time Michigan had lost this contest in the Twin Cities since 1977, when local teen Prince Rogers Nelson was playing all the instruments on his first album.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The blaze at the Nelson Mandela high school, in the city centre, then spread to the front of the building, damaging the entrance hall.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

It was, in the words of historians Robert Korstad and Nelson Lichtenstein, a heartbreaking “opportunity found and lost.”

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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