nerve up

present singular third person nerves up · participle present nerving up · participle past nerved up · past nerved up

1. transitiveTo make anxious.

   was that why you hit him with the hammer because you were nerved up?

   1899, In the Court of Appeals of the State of New York: The People of the State of New York Versus John Schmidt, page 716

2. transitiveSynonym of nerve (“to give courage or strength; to supply energy or vigour”).

   Their influence goes far to nerve up the men to a constant fighting pitch, and no officer is tolerated away from his command unless sick or wounded.

   1863 November 14, “A Northern Lady at the South”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025

   2 more examples

   Man’s wrath He will restrain: and this faith is needed in times of persecution, such as the church was passing through, and such as these Hebrew believers must soon experience in all its bitterness. Thus he nerves them up for the dread conflict. What has he to fear who fights the good fight of faith under the banner of his glorious Captain?

   1873, George Junkin, chapter XIII, in A Commentary upon the Epistle to the Hebrews, Philadelphia, Pa.: Smith, English & Co., […]; New York, N.Y.: Robert Carter & Bros., →OCLC, page 494

   To stand up in front of the large crowd and the TV cameras and ask his question had required some nerving up. Afterward, he said he felt as if he were on top of the world.

   2021 March 29, Ian Frazier, “Fighting America’s Gun Plague”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2021

   Synonyms: nerve

3. intransitiveTo get courage or strength.

   I was still trying to nerve up to tell my dad I wasn’t going to Mass on Sunday anymore.

   1992, Patricia Hampl, “Silence”, in Virgin Time: In Search of the Contemplative Life, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 199

   2 more examples

   Like the flyways of rattled birds, America’s concourses were constantly crisscrossed with Baby Boomers trying to nerve up for the waiting bedside consultation, the nursing home decision, the choosing of a casket.

   1999, Ivan Doig, “The Springs”, in Mountain Time: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Scribner Paperback Fiction, published 2000, →ISBN, section 3, page 137

   He looked at her face. It was grim and set, a person nerving up for the last of a grueling hike.

   2015, Elizabeth Lowell [pseudonym; Ann Maxwell], chapter 24, in Perfect Touch, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 290