stinging nettle

American  

noun

stinging nettles plural

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.

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stinging nettle British  

noun

1. See nettle

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• stinging nettles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stinging nettle

First recorded in 1515–25

Example Sentences

Washington stood quietly in the back, letting Andrea Jimenez of Herb Walk L.A. guide the group in identifying plants from stinging nettle to California sagebrush.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2023

On the side of the road, he got a stinging nettle rash.

From New York Times • May 21, 2019

In the understory, last fall’s leaves softened by winter’s rainfall are punctuated with the first growth of stinging nettle.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2017

After the initial diagnosis, yachaks rub their patient's body with herbs, including stinging nettle, known across the Andes for its cleansing properties.

From BBC • Jul. 4, 2012

As soon suspect a rosebud of foregoing its own sweet personality, and of being in reality something else, say a stinging nettle.

From The Debtor A Novel by Stevens, William Dodge