All 50 Uses

nettle
in
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
(Auto-generated)

She was giving the nettles a good thrashing.†
Chpt 1
The legs had been kicked away and used to break the windows, and were lying outside, softly crumbling into the earth among the nettles and the incorruptible shards of glass.†
Chpt 1
It is hard to slash at nettles for long without a story imposing itself, and Briony was soon absorbed and grimly content, even though she appeared to the world like a girl in the grip of a terrible mood.†
Chpt 1
A tall nettle with a preening look, its head coyly drooping and its middle leaves turned outward like hands protesting innocence—this was Lola, and though she whimpered for mercy, the singing arc of a three-foot switch cut her down at the knees and sent her worthless torso flying.†
Chpt 1
This was too satisfying to let go, and the next several nettles were Lola too; this one, leaning across to whisper in the ear of its neighbor, was cut down with an outrageous lie on her lips; here she was again, standing apart from the others, head cocked in poisonous scheming; over there she lorded it among a clump of young admirers and was spreading rumors about Briony.†
Chpt 1
When Lola had died enough, three pairs of young nettles were sacrificed for the incompetence of the twins—retribution was indifferent and granted no special favors to children.†
Chpt 1
Then playwriting itself became a nettle, became several in fact; the shallowness, the wasted time, the messiness of other minds, the hopelessness of pretending—in the garden of the arts, it was a weed and had to die.†
Chpt 1
Flaying the nettles was becoming a self-purification, and it was childhood she set about now, having no further need for it.†
Chpt 1
Look at the concentration in her face, judging the angle, never fudging a shot, taking each nettle with inhuman precision.†
Chpt 1
A ragged line of chopped nettles on the grass marked her progress, as did the stinging white bumps on her feet and ankles.†
Chpt 1
She was becoming a solitary girl swiping nettles with a stick, and at last she stopped and tossed it toward the trees and looked around her.†
Chpt 1
Briony had lost her godly power of creation, but it was only at this moment of return that the loss became evident; part of a daydream's enticement was the illusion that she was helpless before its logic: forced by international rivalry to compete at the highest level among the world's finest and to accept the challenges that came with preeminence in her field—her field of nettle slashing—driven to push beyond her limits to assuage the roaring crowd, and to be the best, and, most importantly, unique.†
Chpt 1
But here too there would be no light, no way of keeping to the path or ducking the branches that hung low over it, or dodging the nettles that grew thickly on either side.†
Chpt 1
Nettle, the lorry driver, took out another cigarette and said, "So, which way, guv'nor?†
Chpt 2
And Nettle would chant, "He flicking is, he fucking is."†
Chpt 2
On the first night, when they were sheltering in the bike shed of a burned-out school, Corporal Nettle said, "What's a private soldier like you doing talking like a toff?†
Chpt 2
Nettle and Mace followed him.†
Chpt 2
Corporal Mace was a cook in the same RASC unit as Corporal Nettle.†
Chpt 2
Mace found a heap of sacks and with Nettle's help stuffed them to make up three mattresses.†
Chpt 2
"Fifth columnists, they would be," Nettle said.†
Chpt 2
Nettle fetched the basket and they spread out what they had on their table.†
Chpt 2
Nettle said, "I wouldn't give this to my fucking dog.†
Chpt 2
He heard Mace and Nettle do the same.†
Chpt 2
Henri wore glasses, which Nettle said looked odd on a farmer.†
Chpt 2
The wine was taking hold of Corporal Nettle.†
Chpt 2
Nettle was whispering in Mace's ear and he was nodding.†
Chpt 2
Nettle took from his bag two cartons of cigarettes.†
Chpt 2
The Frenchmen made a polite show of refusing, but Nettle came round the table and shoved the gifts into their arms.†
Chpt 2
And perhaps the corporals weren't such complete dolts—Mace with his straw mattresses, Nettle with his gift for the brothers.†
Chpt 2
Corporal Nettle said, "It don't show crumpet, that map.†
Chpt 2
Nettle, who was just behind, kicked the Renault door shut with such ferocity that the wing mirror fell off.†
Chpt 2
Nettle and Mace were for getting a lift.†
Chpt 2
It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht the nicht," Nettle called out in Cockney.†
Chpt 2
Corporal Nettle said dreamily, "It was Lord Gort what wrote out that order, sir, and sent it down personally."†
Chpt 2
Someone, as usual, was cursing the RAE Turner stood up and was dusting himself down when Nettle and Mace emerged and together they walked back toward the major who was sitting on the ground.†
Chpt 2
He found Mace and Nettle shoulder deep in a hole.†
Chpt 2
"He swallowed a fucking dictionary," Corporal Nettle said proudly.†
Chpt 2
Still in the grave, he and Nettle sang tunelessly for Turner's benefit.†
Chpt 2
Nettle said, "Nice-looking kid."†
Chpt 2
Nettle banged it in with the back of his shovel.†
Chpt 2
Yes, the plowing would still go on and there'd be a crop, someone to reap it and mill it, others to eat it, and not everyone would be dead ....Turner was thinking this when Nettle gripped his arm and pointed.†
Chpt 2
As they were walking back across the field, Nettle joined them.†
Chpt 2
Nettle said, "I like the sound of those."†
Chpt 2
"It's your left, remember, guv'nor," Nettle said.†
Chpt 2
In sudden petulance, Corporal Nettle sat down in the road, took off his boots and flung them into a field.†
Chpt 2
After some coaxing, Nettle was persuaded to take back his boots, tie them together and carry them round his neck.†
Chpt 2
Nettle had put his boots back on, but he had left them loose, with the laces trailing.†
Chpt 2
He followed Mace and Nettle into the din and fumy stench of the first bar along the front.†
Chpt 2
When Nettle ducked behind the counter to rummage around, there were jeers.†
Chpt 2
Nettle cocked his head in the direction of the door and they began to converge on it.†
Chpt 2

Click For
Best Example Sentences
From Other Sources
Grouped by 2 Meanings

Definitions:

(1) (nettle as in: beware of nettles near the river)
a type of plant with stinging or irritating hairs
(2) (nettle as in: my nettlesome little sister)
to annoy -- especially with minor irritations
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)

nettle in Atonement, by Ian McEwan (Auto-generated)

nettle
in
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
(Auto-generated)