Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) the testicles.

1964		‘Twelve Days of Finals’ in R.A. Reuss Field Coll. of Songs (1965) 146: Two sweaty nads [OED].
1971		M. Rossman Writing within the War 25: And the dog, our first child and familiar, pushes up anxious between us and offers her his nose and me his nads, which we take to complete the circle of energy.
1984		N. Stephenson Big U (2001) 224: Let’s steer clear of that [i.e. radioactivity]. Don’t want blasted ’nads.
1993		B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 242: usage: ‘The cricket ball got him in the nads, poor bastard!’.
2004		P. Howard PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 25: If the Head [...] wants to see it, well and good, if that’s what pumps his nads.
2012		C. Black ‘Topless Vampire Bitches’ in C. Rhatigan and N. Bird (eds) Pulp Ink 2 [ebook] Freezing my effing nads off.
2013		Esquire 1 Sept. 🌐 None of the gang would be afraid of getting their ’nads out in a crowded branch of AB1 in the name of utter comedy gold.
2014		me-stepmums-too-fuckin-hot-mate at www.fakku.net 🌐 Knock me up...Empty ya nads in me!
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 86: I kicked his nards raw.

2. (US) courage.

1976

P. Conroy Great Santini (1977) 246: You just don’t have the nads. You just got a terminal case of the yellow spine.