stinging nettle

noun

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.

Nearby words

sting, stingaree, stinger, stinging capsule, stinging hair, stinging nettle, stinging tree, stingless bee, stingo, stingray, stingy

Origin of stinging nettle

First recorded in 1515–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stinging nettle

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
The stinging-nettle crops up in every bed of flowers we raise; the bitter tonic flavours all we eat and drink.
M. or N. "Similia similibus curantur."|G.J. Whyte-Melville
It lives in solitude on the stinging-nettle (Urtica dioica).
The Insect World|Louis Figuier

It possesses an urticaceous apparatus, which produces an effect similar to the stinging-nettle when applied to the skin.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier

British Dictionary definitions for stinging nettle

stinging nettle

noun

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

stinging nettle

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of stinging nettle

Examples from the Web for stinging nettle

British Dictionary definitions for stinging nettle

stinging nettle

noun