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definitions

stinging nettle

noun
  1. a bristly, stinging Eurasian nettle, Urtica dioica, naturalized in North America, having forked clusters of greenish flowers, the young foliage sometimes cooked and eaten like spinach by the Scots.

Origin of stinging nettle

First recorded in 1515–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stinging nettle

Historical Examples of stinging nettle

  • It lives in solitude on the stinging-nettle (Urtica dioica).

    The Insect World

    Louis Figuier

  • I might compare it with the sensation produced by the stinging-nettle.

    More Hunting Wasps

    J. Henri Fabre

  • All the party enjoyed the ride, except poor Hector, who complained bitterly of the pain he suffered from the stinging-nettle.

    The Young Berringtons

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • It possesses an urticaceous apparatus, which produces an effect similar to the stinging-nettle when applied to the skin.

    The Ocean World:

    Louis Figuier

  • The stinging-nettle crops up in every bed of flowers we raise; the bitter tonic flavours all we eat and drink.

British Dictionary definitions for stinging nettle

stinging nettle

noun
  1. See nettle (def. 1)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012