nettle
\ NET-l \ , verb;
1.to irritate, annoy, or provoke.
2.to sting as a nettle does.
noun:
1.any plant of the genus Urtica, covered with stinging hairs. Compare nettle family.
2.any of various allied or similar plants.
Quotes:
The high and lofty airs of these patricians always nettled him.
-- Hopkinson Smith, "The Fortunes of Oliver Horn," Scribner's Magazine , 1902
Kennedy was so nettled by Halberstam's dispatches… that the president was still seeking, just a week before the November 1963 coup, to have Halberstam transferred away from Saigon.
-- Francis X. Winters, "The Year of the Hare: America in Vietnam" , 1999
Origin:
Nettle may share a base with the word net , a connection that can be traced to the use of the fiber of the nettle plant for weaving.
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