Inspire two thirds of the men with nerve (9)
I believe the answer is:
encourage
'inspire' is the definition.
(encouraging is a kind of inspiring)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for encourage that I've seen before include "Give hope to (someone)" , "Give support, confidence or hope to" , "Hearten, foster" , "Motivate" , "Give hope or confidence to, help to advance" .)