What does nerve mean?
Word: Nerve
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Nerve means a fibre that carries messages between the brain and the rest of the body. It can also mean the bravery needed to do something difficult.
Synonyms: boldness
Antonyms: cowardice, timidity
How do you spell nerve?
Syllables: nerve
Tricky part: The vowel sound is written er, not ur or ir.
Watch out for: nirve, nearve
Memory tip: Nerve has the same er as her and herb: her nerves were steady.
Idioms and Phrases
- lose your nerve: to suddenly become too scared to do something Example: "Sameer lost his nerve at the top of the diving board."
- get on someone's nerves: to annoy someone Example: "The dripping tap really gets on my nerves."
Nerve in a sentence
Example 1: A nerve in your elbow makes your arm tingle when you knock your funny bone.
Example 2: It takes nerve to sing alone in front of the whole school.
Example 3: The dentist numbed the nerve before filling the tooth.
Fun Fact
Some nerve cells are very long. A single nerve cell can stretch from the bottom of the spine down to the big toe, about a metre in a tall adult.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
nerve
a) doubt
b) anger
c) courage
d) fear
Show answer
c) courage. Having the nerve to do something means having the courage to do it.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) tendan
b) brane
c) nerve
d) muscel
Show answer
c) nerve. Brain has ai, muscle ends in le, and tendon ends in on.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The doctor tapped my knee to test whether the nerv was working properly.
a) doctor
b) properly
c) nerv
d) tapped
Show answer
c) nerv. A silent e closes the word, as in curve.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which nerve carries signals from the eye to the brain?
a) the optic nerve
b) the sciatic nerve
c) the facial nerve
d) the spinal nerve
Show answer
a) the optic nerve
2. In which sentence does nerve mean bravery?
a) A nerve in his neck carries signals to his arm.
b) It took nerve to speak up when everyone else was silent.
c) Each nerve is made of many tiny fibres.
d) The doctor tested the nerve in her wrist.
Show answer
b) It took nerve to speak up when everyone else was silent.
