Nervous

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Nervous \Nerv"ous\ (n[~e]rv"[u^]s), a. [L. nervosus sinewy,
     vigorous: cf. F. nerveux. See {Nerve}.]
     1. Possessing nerve; sinewy; strong; vigorous. "Nervous
        arms." --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. Possessing or manifesting vigor of mind; characterized by
        strength in sentiment or style; forcible; spirited; as, a
        nervous writer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Of or pertaining to the nerves; seated in the nerves; as,
        nervous excitement; a nervous fever.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Having the nerves weak, diseased, or easily excited;
        subject to, or suffering from, undue excitement of the
        nerves; easily agitated or annoyed.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Poor, weak, nervous creatures.        --Cheyne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Sensitive; excitable; timid.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. Apprehensive; as, a child nervous about his mother's
        reaction to his bad report card.
        [PJC]
  
              Our aristocratic class does not firmly protest
              against the unfair treatment of Irish Catholics,
              because it is nervous about the land. --M. Arnold.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Nervous fever} (Med.), a low form of fever characterized by
        great disturbance of the nervous system, as evinced by
        delirium, or stupor, disordered sensibility, etc.
  
     {Nervous system} (Anat.), the specialized coordinating
        apparatus which endows animals with sensation and
        volition. In vertebrates it is often divided into three
        systems: the central, brain and spinal cord; the
        peripheral, cranial and spinal nerves; and the
        sympathetic. See {Brain}, {Nerve}, {Spinal cord}, under
        {Spinal}, and {Sympathetic system}, under {Sympathetic},
        and Illust. in Appendix.
  
     {Nervous temperament}, a condition of body characterized by a
        general predominance of mental manifestations. --Mayne.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  nervous
       adj 1: easily agitated; "quick nervous movements"
       2: causing or fraught with or showing anxiety; "spent an
          anxious night waiting for the test results"; "cast anxious
          glances behind her"; "those nervous moments before
          takeoff"; "an unquiet mind" [syn: {anxious}, {uneasy}, {unquiet}]
       3: of or relating to the nervous system; "nervous disease";
          "neural disorder" [syn: {neural}]
       4: excited in anticipation [syn: {aflutter}]
       5: unpredictably excitable (especially of horses) [syn: {skittish},
           {spooky}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  168 Moby Thesaurus words for "nervous":
     acid, agitable, agitated, all nerves, all-overish, allergic,
     anaphylactic, anxious, anxioused up, apprehensive, bashful, biting,
     bothered, concerned, corrosive, cowardly, critical, cutting,
     delicate, difficult, diffident, discomposed, disquieted,
     distressed, disturbed, driving, edgy, effective, emotional,
     emotionally unstable, empathetic, empathic, eruptive, excitable,
     excited, explosive, fearful, fearing, fearsome, feverish, fidgety,
     flurried, flustered, forceful, forcible, foreboding, fretful,
     frightened, goosey, goosy, gutsy, high-mettled, high-spirited,
     high-strung, highly emotional, hyperesthetic, hyperpathic,
     hypersensitive, imperative, impressive, in a dither, in a pucker,
     in a stew, in a sweat, in a tizzy, in fear, incisive, inflammable,
     irascible, irritable, itchy, jittery, jumpy, mettlesome, misgiving,
     mordant, mousy, nerval, nerves on edge, nervy, neural,
     neurological, on edge, on tenterhooks, overanxious,
     overapprehensive, overrefined, oversensible, oversensitive,
     overstrung, overtender, panicky, passible, penetrating,
     perturbable, perturbed, piercing, poignant, powerful, prickly,
     punchy, querulous, rabbity, refined, responsive, restless, ruffled,
     scared, scary, sensational, sensitive, shaken, shaken up, shaky,
     shivery, shrinking, shy, sinewed, sinewy, skittery, skittish,
     slashing, snappish, solicitous, spooky, startlish, stirred up,
     strained, striking, strong, strung out, supersensitive,
     suspenseful, sympathetic, tactful, telling, tender, tense, tetchy,
     thin-skinned, ticklish, timid, timorous, touchy, trembling,
     tremulous, trenchant, trepidant, trigger-happy, troubled,
     troublous, turbulent, twittery, uneasy, unpeaceful, unquiet,
     unrestful, upset, uptight, vigorous, vital, volatile, volcanic,
     waspish, worked up, worried, wrought up, zealous