Definition of "nerve"

Like her I go; I cannot stay;⁠I leave this mortal ark behind,A weight of nerves without a mind,And leave the cliffs, and haste away […]

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto XII

“Oh?” she said. “So you have decided to revise my guest list for me? You have the nerve, the – the –” I saw she needed helping out. “Audacity,” I said, throwing her the line. “The audacity to dictate to me who I shall have in my house.” It should have been “whom”, but I let it go. “You have the –” “Crust.” “– the immortal rind,” she amended, and I had to admit it was stronger, “to tell me whom” – she got it right that time – “I may entertain at Brinkley Court and who” – wrong again – “I may not.”

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins

You got a lot of nerve / To say you are my friend / When I was down / You just stood there grinning

1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Positively 4th Street”

A trip to the whistling, fire-cracking Stadio San Paolo is always a test of nerve but Wenger's men have already outplayed the Italians once.

2013 November 26, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎

Southgate's side kept their nerve and discipline in the unsettling, intimidating surroundings of Budapest, with the behaviour of Hungary's fans leaving much to be desired, to turn up the heat and punish their opponents ruthlessly once they had gone ahead.

2021 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Hungary 0-4 England”, in BBC‎

He led me on to mightiest deeds, / Above the nerve of mortal arm.

1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], pages 42–43, lines 639–640

Put me in the hospital for nerves and then they had to commit me

1997, Harvey Danger (lyrics and music), “Flagpole Sitta”, in Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?

The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down.

1959, Newell A Perry, Eric O Ridgway, US patent US2870103 A

Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]

Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay, My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh,And charg'd my men, as they from fate would fly,Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.

1725, Homer, “Book X”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume III, London: […] Bernard Lintot

The yellow-bearded Mailey, the old warrior, scarred with many combats and eager for more, stood beside his wife, the gentle squire who bore his weapons and nerved his arm.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

The shock nerved her, and she ran aimlessly till she fell, and for a time lay, but making a barrier of her arms, that the child should not be crushed.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 289