Collocations for nerve - noun

pinched (AmE), trapped (BrE)
sensitive
damaged
facial, optic, sciatic, spinal, etc.
peripheral
sensory

damage, pinch (AmE), strain, trap (BrE)
He damaged a nerve in his spine.

sever
stimulate

go, lead, run
The nerve runs from the eye to the brain.

transmit sth
The nerves transmit pain.

supply sth
control sth
The vagus nerve controls heart rate and breathing.

bundle, cell, ending, fibre/fiber, sheath, tissue
pathway
activity, function
impulse, signal
stimulation
damage, injury
disease, dysfunction, paralysis
pain
gas

along a/the nerve
The message travels along the nerve to the brain.

nerve in
He's been off work with a trapped nerve in his back.

nerve to
Cutting the nerves to the stomach does not affect hunger.

every nerve in sb's body
Intense pain shot through every nerve in his body.

hit a nerve, strike a (raw) nerve, touch a (raw) nerve (all figurative)
My remarks about divorce had unwittingly touched a raw nerve.

steady
bad, frayed, frazzled, jangled, shattered, taut
At the end of a day's teaching, her nerves were absolutely shattered.

fray, stretch
Her nerves were stretched to breaking point.

be on edge
After the bomb, my nerves were on edge.

be shot (informal)
Her nerves were shot from all the things happening around her.

jangle
His nerves jangled every time the phone rang.

get the better of sb
He uncharacteristically allowed nerves to get the better of him in yesterday's game.

a battle of nerves, a war of nerves
The union has been fighting a war of nerves with the management over pay.

get on sb's nerves
His endless whining really gets on my nerves.

nerves of steel
You need nerves of steel to be a good poker player.

a strain on sb's nerves
Caring for him while he was so ill has been a great strain on her nerves.

exam (esp. BrE), first-night (BrE)
I've never suffered from first-night nerves.

jittery (AmE)
It gave me time to calm my jittery nerves before meeting her.

calm, control, ease, settle, soothe, steady
She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

suffer from

an attack of nerves
I had an attack of nerves just before I went on stage.

a bag of nerves, a bundle of nerves
By the time of the interview, I was a bundle of nerves.

have
I didn't have the nerve to ask.

lack
lose
At the last minute she almost lost her nerve.

keep
He kept his nerve to win a thrilling game.

find
You must find the nerve to ask for more money.

gather, steel
Steeling my nerve, I jumped the first bar.

take
It took a lot of nerve to stand up and speak.

break, fail (sb)
At the last moment her nerve failed her.

a failure of nerve, a loss of nerve
a test of nerve
Singing in front of so many people was a real test of nerve.