Net·tle n.  Bot. A plant of the genus Urtica, covered with minute sharp hairs containing a poison that produces a stinging sensation.  Urtica gracilis is common in the Northern, and Urtica chamaedryoides in the Southern, United States.  The common European species, Urtica urens and Urtica dioica, are also found in the Eastern united States. Urtica pilulifera is the Roman nettle of England.
 Note: ☞ The term nettle has been given to many plants related to, or to some way resembling, the true nettle; as: Australian nettle, a stinging tree or shrub of the genus Laportea (as Laportea gigas and Laportea moroides); -- also called nettle tree.
 Bee nettle, Hemp nettle, a species of Galeopsis. See under Hemp.
 Blind nettle, Dead nettle, a harmless species of Lamium.
 False nettle (Baehmeria cylindrica), a plant common in the United States, and related to the true nettles.
 Hedge nettle, a species of Stachys.  See under Hedge.
 Horse nettle (Solanum Carolinense).  See under Horse.
 nettle tree. (a) Same as Hackberry. (b) See Australian nettle (above).
 Spurge nettle, a stinging American herb of the Spurge family (Jatropha urens).
 Wood nettle, a plant (Laportea Canadensis) which stings severely, and is related to the true nettles.
 Nettle cloth, a kind of thick cotton stuff, japanned, and used as a substitute for leather for various purposes.
 Nettle rash Med., an eruptive disease resembling the effects of whipping with nettles.
 Sea nettle Zool., a medusa.


 Blind a.
 1. Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect or by deprivation; without sight.
 He that is strucken blind can not forget
 The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.   --Shak.
 2. Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or judge; as, authors are blind to their own defects.
 But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
 That they may stumble on, and deeper fall.   --Milton.
 3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate.
    This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation.   --Jay.
 4. Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to a person who is blind; not well marked or easily discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as, a blind path; a blind ditch.
 5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced.
    The blind mazes of this tangled wood.   --Milton.
 6. Having no openings for light or passage; as, a blind wall; open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a blind gut.
 7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as, a blind passage in a book; illegible; as, blind writing.
 8. Hort. Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as, blind buds; blind flowers.
 Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul-de-sac.
 Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate motion. --Knight.
 Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people, esp. at night.
 Blind cat Zool., a species of catfish (Gronias nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns in Pennsylvania.
 Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal. --Simmonds.
 Blind door, Blind window, an imitation of a door or window, without an opening for passage or light. See Blank door or Blank window, under Blank, a.
 Blind level Mining, a level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon. --Knight.
 Blind nettle Bot., dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under Dead.
 Blind shell Gunnery, a shell containing no charge, or one that does not explode.
 Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or disposed to see danger. --Swift.
 Blind snake Zool., a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of the family Typhlopidæ, with rudimentary eyes.
 Blind spot Anat., the point in the retina of the eye where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to light.
 Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; -- called also blank tooling, and blind blocking.
 Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall.