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

See Examples For:

stinging nettle

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

After a warning to steer clear of pesky stinging nettle, we set off.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2021

For instance, stinging nettle works just as fast as any antihistamine for hay fever, without any of the downside of the antihistamine.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2017

There have been times where it has felt like someone is holding a stinging nettle to my face.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2016

In the case of the latter the eggs are loosely laid, hundreds together, upon the leaves of the common stinging nettle.

From Butterflies Worth Knowing by Clarence M. Weed