nailn.
/neɪl/, U.S. /neɪl/ I. A horny plate or covering.† 3. a nail (also nail's) breadth, and variants [compare classical Latin transversum unguem] : an extremely small space or distance (frequently in negative expressions). Cf. hairbreadth n., hair's breadth n. Obsolete.
1.
a. A smooth horny plate overlying the upper (dorsal) surface of the end of each finger and toe in humans and most other primates. Cf. fingernail n., toenail n. at toe n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nail > [noun]
naileOE
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > [noun] > primate > parts of
naileOE
uterus1615
hind-hand1796
eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 121/2 Unguana, nægl.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxviii. 253 His feax weox swa swa wimmanna, and his næglas swa swa earnes clawa.
lOE Laws of Æðelberht (Rochester) liv. §1. 6 Gif ðuman nægl of weorðeþ, III scill[inga] gebete.
?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 29 Þis sceal to scurfedan næȝlum: Nim plumsewes..smyre þa næȝlas mid.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 47 [They] bunden hire þat tet blod barst ut et te neiles.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10918 Heo weopen on Arðure..nailes to heore nebbe þat æfter hit bledde.
c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3366 And lyk an egles fetheres wax hise heres; Hise nayles lyk a briddes clawes weere.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. 56 He caste on his..Cokeres and his Coffus for Colde of his nayles.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 2720 (MED) In nailes and in skyn þerto, If þou seie þe lijf is in þo, For þei mowen fele who dooþ hem wo.
c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Stans Puer (Laud) in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 741 (MED) Fro blaknesse alwey kepe thy nayllis.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) x. l. 1230 His handis..Off manlik mak, with nales gret and cler.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxijv A scoldyng woman, whose weapon is onely her toungue, and her nayles.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 299 I am not yet so lowe, But that my nailes can reach vnto thine eyes. View more context for this quotation
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1650) 139 She is all faire, but yet hath foule long nayles.
1682 J. Dryden Mac Flecknoe 5 The Lute still Trembles underneath thy Nail.
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 350 Do not bite your Nails.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 285 The nails still continued perfect; and all the marks of the joints..remained perfectly visible.
1814 Ld. Byron Lara ii. vi. 761 The bitter print of each convulsive nail.
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. vii. 238 Our hair and nails are epidermal parts of the exoskeleton.
1917 E. Wharton Summer ii. 22 His hands were sunburnt and sinewy, yet with smooth nails like a woman's.
1957 J. Z. Young Life of Mammals ii. 41 There are transitions between..the hoof of ungulates, which completely covers the digit, and the nail of primates, which is a flat plate found on one surface only.
1990 Health Now July 5/1 The nail is lodged in a fold of the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin.
b. A similar structure on the toes of other mammals and birds; a claw, a talon. Formerly also: †either of the digits of a cloven hoof (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > paw or foot > foot with claws > talon or claw
clawa700
clivera1000
naillOE
cleafre?c1225
cleche?c1225
crook?c1225
clutchc1230
cleec1250
pawc1330
cromea1400
clawrec1400
pouncea1475
talons?a1475
ungle1481
ongle1484
gripe1578
sere1606
unce1609
pouncer1704
unguisc1790
griff1820
lOE Canterbury Psalter lxviii. 32 Placebit deo super vitulum novellum cornua producentem et ungulas : licæð gode ofer ceælf geong vel niwe hornæs forðledende & neglæs vel clawa.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) Dan. iv. 30 His heris wexiden in to lickenesse of eglis, and his naylis as naylis or clees of briddis.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 542 This egle..Withyn hys sharpe nayles longe Me, fleynge, in a swap he hente.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxviii. 36 Þe new kalf, forth bryngand hornes & nayles.
1568 J. Rowll Cursing l. 192 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1928) II. 283 Dragoun heidis & warwolf nalis.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 37 Lyons folde vppe there nailes, when they are in their dennes.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 108 Which name signifieth a beast of Hony..for it will climbe the trees, and comming to the caues of Bees..take out the Hony with their nailes.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. Bv The nailes are in all that have toes; but the ape's are imbricate, those of the rapacious aduncate: in others they are straight; as in doggs.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Animal Having the Foot divided into Two Parts or Toes, having two Nails, as the Camel-kind.
1826 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds (ed. 6) I. 376 The middle toe, including the nail, is about seven eighths of an inch.
1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 477/2 In the dog and cat..a bony plate extends from the last phalanx into the posterior fold of the nail.
1893 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. 1 89 The toes of most birds are protected by claws or flat nails, only in the Ostrich the outer toe has no nail.
1915 F. Hodgson Burnett Lost Prince xix. 179 After they had talked some time, The Rat sat and gnawed his nails.
1990 Cat Fancy Feb. 31/1 When a cat is frightened half to death, it may try to climb up something it is physically unable to climb and shred its nails.
2. Something resembling a nail.† a. A plectrum. Chiefly in harp-nail. Obsolete.† b. A ring inset with a precious stone. Obsolete. rare.† c. Veterinary Medicine and Medicine. [Compare classical Latin unguis fingernail, a patch of thickened conjunctiva extending over part of the cornea, post-classical Latin ungula fingernail (Vetus Latina), tumour in the eye (a1250 in a British source), Byzantine Greek ὄνυξ fingernail, accumulation of pus in the eye resembling a nail paring (6th cent.).] An inflamed or thickened nictitating membrane, semilunar fold of conjunctiva, or caruncle; (also) an abscess of the cornea. Obsolete.† d. [Compare classical Latin unguis, Hellenistic Greek ὄνυξ fingernail, used to denote the white part at the end of rose petals by which they are attached to the stalk.] In many flowers: the narrow, stalk-like lower part of each petal; = claw n. 6. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > [noun] > plectrum
nailOE
pointela1522
quill1552
plectre1603
plectrum1608
fescue?1624
pick1889
fingerpick1891
thumb pick1969
OE Fortunes of Men 84 Sum sceal mid hearpan æt his hlafordes fotum sittan..nægl [i.e. plectrum] neome cende [read neomegende].
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 168 Plectrum,..hearpnægel.
OE tr. Apollonius of Tyre (1958) xvi. 26 Apollonius his hearpenægl [L. plectrum] genam and he þa hearpestrengas mid cræfte astirian ongan.
ΚΠ
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 311 (MED) Þese fonde first a ryng of iren, and closed þerynne a precious stoon, and cleped it a nayle [L. ungulum], for as þe nayle is i-closed in þe flesche, so is suche a stoon i-closed in þe metal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > growth or ulcer
ungulac1400
nailc1425
haw?1550
pterygium1562
aegilops1578
ungle1583
encanthis1616
argema1661
unguis1684
phlyctenule1819
pinguecula1850
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > abscess > boil
boila1000
kyle1340
botcha1387
anthraxa1398
bealc1400
carbuncle?a1425
froncle1543
knub1563
anthracosis?1587
nail1600
big1601
ouche1612
bubuklea1616
bolwaie1628
coal1665
furuncle1676
Natal sore1851
gurry sore1897
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 51 Sometyme commeþ to þe houndes a siknesse in here eynne for þer comeþ a webbe..into þat oon side of þe eye and is clepid a naile.
a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 33v (MED) Also þe nayle is helyd in þe begynnyng with A grene colory þat is comoyn to old scabbe and good to eyelyddes þat be turnyd vp so down.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxviii. 182 The naile in the eie shall be lifted vp with a little small needle of Iuorie, and then cut quite away with cisers.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 106 Paine and blindnesse in the eye, by reason of any skinnes, Webs, or nailes.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 120 A Haw in the Eye is a little nail; it is a nervous membrane.
1676 J. Cooke Mellificium Chirurg. (ed. 3) 713 When it becomes so hard, and the Cornea round about being brawny, presseth it down, 'tis called Elos Clavus, i.e. the Nail, being like a Nail-Head.
1730 Dr. Allen's Synopsis Medicinæ II. x. 21 They usually distinguish the Nail of the Eye into Membranous, Varicose, and Adipose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > part of
rose leafa1325
roserootc1390
nail1559
rose petal1811
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 348 iii.ounces of red Roses the nails taken awai.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 116v The iuyce oughte to be pressed out of the tender roses, after that whiche is named the nayle be cut awaye.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 655 The nayles, that is to say, the white endes of the leaues whereby they are fastened to the knappes..is called in Latine, Vngues Rosarum.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ongle d'une rose, the nayle, root, or white bottome of the flower of a Rose.
1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xix. 38 There be six parts in a Rose..as 1. The Leaves. 2. The Nails.
1821 tr. A. P. de Candolle & K. Sprengel Elements Philos. Plants i. iii. 63 In a polypetalous corolla, the smaller part of the petals, which often resembles a stalk, is called the nail (unguis), and the expanded part is called lamina.
e. A hard excrescence on the upper mandible of some geese and ducks. Also: any of various hard or horny structures in other animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > beak or bill > upper or lower beak > part or process of upper beak
nail1769
tooth1847
prokinesis1962
rhynchokinesis1963
1769 E. Bancroft Ess. Nat. Hist. Guiana 171 The upper mandible being augmented with a nail.
1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, quarto) II. ii. 576 Called..the bean goose, from the likeness of the nail of the bill to a horse bean.
1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 263 The bill always is larger..with always a white terminal nail to the upper mandible.
1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 202 A tuft of long black hairs which conceal a nail, with which the tip of the tail is furnished.
1890 E. Coues Handbk. Field & Gen. Ornithol. ii. iii. 150 In all the duck order the bill is likewise soft; but there it is always terminated by a hard, horny unguis or ‘nail’, more or less distinct.
1985 B. Campbell & E. Lack Dict. Birds 47/2 Most limicoline birds..have relatively soft ‘leathery’ coverings to their bills; in geese.., while much of the sheath is soft, the tip forms a hard ‘nail’ well adapted to cropping vegetation.
1995 E. W. Knight-Jones et al. in P. J. Hayward & J. S. Ryland Handbk. Marine Fauna N.W. Europe vi. 201/1 Bristle worms... Papillae on proboscis resemble a fingertip with an oblique chitinous ‘nail’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > the smallest amount
tokenworth1631
a nail (also nail's) breadth1637
least1656
styme1776
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour ii. xii. sig. Tvij All this coulde nat remoue me the breade of my nayle from my dere frende Gysippus.
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature ii. sig. Aviij The see doth ebbe and flowe, And varyeth not a nayle.
1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies ii. i. 9 The position..which we maintaine.., and from which we will not departe the breadth of one naile, is this.
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events To Rdr. sig. a 2 He may not swerve a nailes breadth.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote II. iii. xi. 265 I have a greater regard for a nail's breadth of my soul, than for my whole body.
1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. I. iv. vii. 257 I'd not bate one nail's breadth of the honest truth.
II. A small metal spike (and related uses).
4. † b. spec. Each of a series of nails driven into the hull of a ship (esp. one carrying coal) to mark a loading line. Cf. quot. 1695 at nail v. 2c. Obsolete.
a. A small metal spike, usually with a sharpened end and a blunt head, which may be driven in to a surface with a hammer or other tool in order to fasten things together, serve as a peg, or (occasionally) to provide purchase, etc. †Also as a mass noun.In quot. 1440: †a wooden peg (obsolete rare). Cf. treenail n.The heads of nails may be of various shapes, depending on method of manufacture and intended use. While many are flat, they may also (esp. traditionally) be pyramidal or wedge-shaped; cf. nail head n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nail
naileOE
preenc1225
tacket1316
tack-nail1463
the world > space > relative position > support > hanging or suspension > [noun] > that by which something is suspended > peg or nail
naileOE
percha1325
knagc1440
spirget1567
crotch1573
peg1598
spirket1647
eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 89/1 Paxillum, palum, naegl.
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iv. i. 85 Hie namon treowu & slogon on oþerne ende monige scearpe isene næglas.
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. xiv. 204 Se leg þurhæt þa næglas in þæm þyrelum, þe heo mid þæm to þæm timbre gefæstnad wæs.
c1225 ( Ælfric Gloss. (Worcester) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 539 Clauus, steorscofle, uel næil.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 2120 (MED) He..het..þurhdriuen hire tittes wið irnene neiles.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 712 Þer-inne wantede nouth a nayl Þat euere he sholde þer-inne do.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Judges iv. 21 Iahel..toke anayl of þe tabernacle, takynge þer wiþ an hamer.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 603 Ryche golde naylez Þat al glytered & glent as glem of þe sunne.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 350 Nayl of metalle, clavus. Nayle of tymbyr, cavilla.
1467 in Antiquary (1915) 51 410 (MED) For nayle to the Sayd Wark and to Saynt John Chapell xiiij s. xj d.
1526 Pylgrimage of Perfection (de Worde) f. 223v As a nayle, the moo knockes it hath the more sure it is fixed.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxxiijv That they should dryue in Iron nayles into the Canons and other great pieces.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 15 A hatchet & bill, with hamer & Inglish naile, sorted with skill.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §14 For handsomness sake,..it were good you hang the upper Glass upon a Nail.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 219 Our Rudder broke, which being quickly mended again with some Nails, we sailed only with a fore-sail.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 203 A useful Nail in doubling of small Ships.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine (at cited word) In the same sense our seamen say, every nail in her bottom is an anchor.
1810 E. Weeton Let. 8 July in Jrnl. (1969) I. 274 One or two of the party who had not provided nails in the soles of their shoes to make their footing firm, were obliged to..descend by sliding.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 268/2 Iron nails are either wrought, cast, or cut out of sheet-iron.
1907 St. Nicholas July 780/1 Many of the old joists and plank, however, were too rotten to hold nails.
1967 R. Narayan Sweet-vendor ix. 127 He hooked his upper cloth on a nail on the wall.
1987 Antiquaries Jrnl. 67 249 A plate of Stonesfield Slate pierced for a nail was also found.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > side(s) of vessel > [noun] > waterline > mark to show waterline
nail1644
watermark1754
disc1875
Plimsoll line1877
Plimsoll's mark1877
Plimsoll's pancake1877
1644 H. Mainwaring Sea-mans Dict. 81 Rake,..a great Rake fore-ward-on..doth mightily charge the ship, because it doth over-hang the naile.
1651 Rec. Company Hostmen Newcastle (1901) 95 The Court was informed by Mr Raph Gray..that they see two keeles of Coles of Mr —— Claverings, who had the Tweelve chalder nailes drowned.
1679 Rec. Company Hostmen Newcastle (1901) 139 Custome-house officers threatens to seize the keiles that are measured by Stoke nales.
1694 Act 6 & 7 Will. & Mary c. 10 §4 The said Commissioners..are hereby authorized and impowered to admeasure mark and nail the said Keels Boates Wains and Cartes anew according to the directions.
c. a nail in the coffin and variants: something that hastens or contributes to the end of the person or thing referred to. Cf. sense 7e, and coffin-nail n. (b) at coffin n. Compounds 2.With a final nail (in the coffin) cf. the last straw s.v. straw n.1 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition > that which hastens the end of a person or thing
a nail in the coffin1789
1789 ‘P. Pindar’ Expostulatory Odes xv. 50 Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt.
1821 P. Egan Life in London 183 A glass of spirits is termed, among the wet ones, adding ‘another nail to the coffin’.
1884 Illustr. London News 29 Nov. 526/3 ‘The Candidate’..is one more nail in the coffin of slow acting.
1930 E. Pound Draft of XXX Cantos ix. 36 And the King o' Ragona, Alphonse le roy d'Aragon, was the next nail in our coffin.
1998 Total Football Aug. 29/1 Their intelligence was rewarded with another great strike, this time by Vlaovic, and Suker's marvellous late third was the final nail.
5.
a. A nail used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Frequently as a symbol of the Passion, esp. in devotion or meditation. Frequently in plural.This is one of the most common senses of the word in Old English and early Middle English texts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > referring to Jesus > with reference to the Passion or crucifixion
nailOE
for the rood!OE
(by) (God's) nailsc1390
for the pashe of Christ?1553
OE Crist III 1109 Ond eac þa ealdan wunde ond þa openan dolg on hyra dryhtne geseoð dreorigferðe, swa him mid næglum þurhdrifan niðhycgende þa hwitan honda ond þa halgan fet.
OE Blickling Homilies 91 He eac æteowde þa wunda & þara nægla dolh þæm ungeleaffullum mannum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xx. 25 Ne gelyfe ic buton ic geseo þæra nægela fæstnunge [c1200 Hatton þare nægle fæstnunge] on his handa & ic do minne finger on ðære nægela [c1200 Hatton þare naygelene] stede.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 34 Iudas ȝeaf sancta helenæ þa fif næȝlæs ðe ure drihten mid inæȝlæd wæs.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 62 Godes honden weren ineilet o rode. Þurh þeo ilke neiles ich halsi ow ancres.
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 503 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 16 Þe swete nayles al-so And þe swete burþene of godes sone.
?1316 Short Metrical Chron. (Royal) 629 in J. Ritson Anc. Eng. Metrical Romanceës (1802) II. 296 (MED) Therinne wes closed a nail gret That ede thurh godes fet.
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 52 (MED) My dyuyn charite, which charyte was þat boond which þat..helde hym and fastnede hym wiþ naylis on þe cros.
c1450 Mandeville's Trav. (Coventry) (1973) 509 (MED) And oone of the naylys also there ys And also the cote Inconsultilis And halff the croune þat was of thorn.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 37 Crose and nalis, scharp scurge and lance.
a1560 W. Kennedy Passioun of Christ in J. A. W. Bennett Devotional Pieces (1955) 32 With irne nalis..Throw ȝe handis.
1580 J. Hay Certain Demandes in T. G. Law Catholic Tractates (1901) 58 He hes nocht the markes of his blissid fyve woundes, maid..in his handes and feit be the nales.
1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) i. 31 They felt the nails wherewith they had crucified Christ, sticking fast in their own hearts.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 380 Three Chips of the real Crosse, one of the Nailes, wanting a point.
1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 352 The faithful..elevate their minds to Christ's passion, of which the nail is a memorial.
1869 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. European Morals (1877) II. iv. 250 The nails of the Cross..were converted by the emperor into a helmet.
1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxiii, in Poems (1967) 59 With the gnarls of the nails in thee, niche of the lance, his Lovescape crucified.
1911 Catholic Encycl. XII. 737/2 In the case of the Nails with which Jesus Christ was crucified,..that which was at first venerated as having touched the original came later to be honoured as the original itself.
1990 R. Rhodes Hole in World iii. iv. 229 He'd still have to suffer those terrible hours on the Cross with nails in His hands and feet and the wound in His side burning with vinegar.
b. In oaths, etc.: (by) (God's) nails and variants. Cf. god n. and int. Phrases 3b(a). Now archaic and rare.In these expressions, nail may sometimes have been taken in sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > referring to Jesus > with reference to the Passion or crucifixion
nailOE
for the rood!OE
(by) (God's) nailsc1390
for the pashe of Christ?1553
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > religious oaths (referring to God) > miscellaneous
depardieuc1290
by God's namec1330
by God's roodc1330
by God's eyes1340
God's soul1345
for God's sakec1386
cock's soulc1405
God's armsc1405
by God's dooma1425
(by) (God's) nailsa1500
by God's fast?1515
God's lord?1520
God's sacramenta1529
God's dominusc1530
by God's crown1535
God's bread1535
God's gown1535
God's guts1543
of God's word?1550
God's hat1569
Gods me1570
marry (a) Godc1574
God's malt1575
God's ludd?1577
God's sacring?1577
God's sokinges?1577
trunnion?1577
(by) God's will1579
God's teeth1580
'Shearta1596
God's light1598
by God's me1599
'Snails1599
'Slight1600
God's diggers1602
'Swill1602
od's mea1616
od's my lifea1616
'Sprecious1631
'Sbores1640
odso1660
for sake('s) sake1665
Gad's precious1677
heartlikins1677
od1681
'Sdiggers1687
(Lord) love you (also your heart)1707
God's fury1748
heartikins1751
S'fire1791
nom de Dieu1848
'strewth1892
Lord lumme1895
lumme1898
c1390 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 288 ‘Harrow,’ quod he, ‘by nayles and by blood!’
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xx. 225 Goddes herte, & his nayles.
a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 871 (MED) Hast þou be wonet to swere als, By goddes bones or herte, fals, What by hys woundes, nayles, or tre?
c1460 in R. Brotanek Mittelengl. Dichtungen MS 432 Trin. Coll. Dublin (1940) 100 Þou lyest, horesone, by goddys face..By goddis nayles!
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 169 (MED) By gottys dere nalys, I wyll peasse no langer.
?1536 R. Copland Hye Way to Spyttell Hous sig. Biijv With horyble othes, swerynge as they were wood Armes, nayles, woundes.
1573 New Custome ii. iii. sig. Ciij His nayles I would Plague them one way, or an other.
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. H2v Gods nailes doe you thinke I am so base to gull you?
a1607 H. Chettle Trag. Hoffman (1631) sig. C1 Well, and you were not my father, ——s'nailes, and I would not draw rather then put vp the foole.
1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 225 Their ordinary asseveration is by Nale, for I did not hear any Oath in the Island.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales III. xxiv. 263 Says Tom to himself: ‘By God's nails and blood I will steal the farmer's bull.’
1954 A. Seton Katherine xxix. 493 ‘By God's nails, lady,’ his jaw dropped, ‘you don't mean to come back and live at Kettlethorpe!’
6. figurative.With quot. 1819 cf. nail v. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > overweening or presumption > [noun] > person
overweener1340
presumer1509
assumer1600
nail1819
fat1832
a1400 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Hatton 12) in Eng. Writings (1931) 1 (MED) A parfite man or woman þat has..with þe nayle of luf fested þam in Jhesu Crist.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 23 In oure wil ther stiketh euere a nayl.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 3579 (MED) Whan lust haþ dryue in her hert a nail, Ay dedly venym sueth at þe tail.
a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) 30 The nayle of thys conclusione.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) ix. 15 Genge that lifes in lust..ere festid in ded of synn with nailes of ill delite.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 28 The soule,..being filled with infinite perturbations, fastened in the midst of it with the naile of pleasure and griefe.
1649 E. Reynolds Israels Prayer (new ed.) i. 33 Take..this nayle..out of my heart.
a1677 J. Taylor Contempl. State Man (1684) i. x. 115 Let him..fix his Memory with a Thousand Nails.
1813 C. Lamb in Philanthropist Jan. 51 The countless nails that rivet the chains of habit.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) A person of an over-reaching, imposing disposition, is called a nail, a dead nail, a nailing rascal.
1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.-E. Afr. 474 I set to work to do a trade with Lo Magondi, but found him a terribly hard nail.
1909 Daily Chron. 8 Sept. 1/6 [The Eskimos] termed the Pole ‘the big nail’.
1989 G. Vanderhaeghe Homesick i. 9 This wind..drives nails of cold through coveralls, trousers, woolen combinations.
7. Extended uses.† a. Medicine. [Compare classical Latin clāvus, Hellenistic Greek ἧλος nail, wart, tumour, excrescence.] An abscess of the skin; a boil or whitlow. Obsolete.† b. A defect in stone or in a crystal. Obsolete. rare.† c. Refuse of wool or flax; = backing n. 11. Cf. noil n. Obsolete. rare.† d. Mining. A blasting needle. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > suppuration > [noun] > a suppuration > abscess
aposteme1340
felon1340
postumea1398
exiturea1400
imposthumec1400
buboc1425
impostumation1524
ancome1538
meliceris1562
undimy1562
rising1568
abscess1574
abscession1583
nail1600
the worm1607
apostematea1627
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xii. 78 To ripen a naile [Fr. clou], otherwise called a fellon or cats-haire.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. xxii. xxxii. 857 Some call it [sc. a carbuncle] a Naile [L. clavus, Fr. cloud], because it inferreth like paine as a naile driven into the flesh.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > piece of stone > flaw in
nail1655
stun1850
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. ii. 6 That the starrs are of a fiery substance, invisible earthly bodies intermixt with them; that they are inherent, as nailes in Chrystall.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Marble There are two Defects frequent in Marbles... The one, what they sometimes call Nails, answering to the Knots in Wood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > refuse parts
floss1786
nail1797
1797 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIX. 207 The waft was chiefly spun by old women, and that only from backings or nails, as they were not able to card the wool.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > other mining equipment
dial1681
stick1708
motty1797
nail1839
spiking crib or curb1839
spile1841
bull1849
dag1863
ore bin1867
monitor1873
Billy Fairplay1876
snibble1883
brattice-cloth1885
breaker1885
steam point1895
picking belt1900
self-rescuer1924
rock duster1930
walking dragline1930
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 836 When the hole is dry, and the charge of powder introduced, the nail, a small taper rod of copper, is inserted so as to reach the bottom of the hole.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1506/1 Nail, a taper copper rod used in tamping to make a hole by which the fuse or train may reach the charge.
e. [Short for coffin-nail n. (b) at coffin n. Compounds 2.] Chiefly U.S. slang. A cigarette. Cf. coffin-nail n. (b) at coffin n. Compounds 2; a nail in the coffin at sense 4c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > thing which may be smoked > cigarette
cigarito1832
paper cigar1833
cigarette1842
papelito1845
coffin-nailc1865
fag1885
butt1893
pill1901
scag1915
nail1925
quirly1932
tab1934
burn1941
draw1946
tube1946
snout1950
cancer stick1958
straight1959
ciggy1962
square1970
bifter1989
lung dart1990
dart2000
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 163 Nails, cigarettes.
1929 M. Bodenheim Sixty Seconds 235 A Spanish fellow was dancing and drawing at a nail.
1963 J. N. Iannuzzi What's Happening 123 If you're going to be broke cause I took one of your nails, like forget it.
1996 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 634/2 You still smokin' them nails?
8. A measure of length for cloth equal to 21/ 4 inches, i.e. 1/ 16 of a yard (approx. 5.72 cm); also used in measuring other items. Obsolete.The precise origin of this sense is not clear. The use of the nail in early examples suggests that one sixteenth from the end of the yardstick may have been marked by a nail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > units in measuring cloth
piece1389
nail1394
stick1466
goad1467
1394 Wardrobe Acct. Richard II in Archaeologia (1911) 62 512 (MED) j nail de frenges de soie blank et noir et or.
1433 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 49 (MED) Unam tuellam quatuor ulnarum longitudinis minus le nale.
1461–83 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 117 ij yerds di' and a naille corse of blue silk.
1465 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 140 Bye..a quarter and the nayle therof for colers.
1483 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 417 Item .v. yardys mynus the nayle, welwet blake.
1536 Act 28 Hen. VIII c. 4 §1 Euery..halfe piece of lockerams to be in bredth a hole yarde, lackyng a nayle of the yarde.
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory (1597) 77 A tippet of three nailes breadth.
1592 J. Lyly Midas v. ii They be halfe a yeard broad, and a nayle.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Vn sezieme d'aulne, three ynches, and (as one Neale of the yard) the least diuision of the French ell.
1630 E. Wingate Arithm. 365 205¾ yards or Ells, and 2 nai.
1681 London Gaz. No. 1665/4 A parcel of Grey Searge, Yard and Nail broad.
1732 Accts. Workhouses 60 An ell and half of three quarters and nail wide linnen.
1746 D. Garrick Let. 24 May (1963) I. 76 Mr Walmisley forgets the Order he gave Me, wch I here send you transcrib'd from his own handwriting: viz. two Dozen of Table Cloths, 2 Yards, half & Nail long.
1822 T. L. Beddoes Brides' Trag. i. ii. 13 I've..written twenty yards, two nails, An inch and a quarter, cloth measure, of sonnets.
1845 A. Opie Let. in C. L. Brightwell Memorials Life A. Opie (1854) 376 It arrived at last, and is a folio volume, two nails thick.
1863 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 26 June 557/2 Should a mother wish to send her child to a draper's shop for two nails of muslin, the term ‘decimetre’ will certainly not do.
1866 E. Turner Young Man's Compan. (1965) 82 Cloth Measure, 2¼ Inches make 1 Nail. Marked n.
9. [Compare Middle Dutch nagel, Middle High German nagel in this sense.]
a. A measure of weight for wool, beef, etc., equal to seven or eight pounds (approx. 3.2–3.6 kg). In later use English regional (chiefly south-eastern). Cf. clove n.3 Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > pound > eight pounds
clovea1328
nailc1400
c1400 Sc. Merchandise (National Libr. Scotl. MS) 5 vj lib. of woll mak the nayle and xxx nayle mak the walle & ij walle makis the sek.
1429 Rolls of Parl. IV. 352/1 A nail of Lambeswolle is at the value of ixd.
c1450 MS Marquis of Bute f. 175, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Of wecht in Flandrys and reknyns be the price of the mone... And the waw is [? 30] nayle and the nayle haldis v [sic] lib.
1455 Rolls of Parl. V. 335/2 mccxxvi sakkes and half sakke and xi naylis of Woll.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xxxvv/2 And it conteyne more than xij naile than shal the sheref take therfore as miche as of a sac of iij weis.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 247/1 Nayle of woll.
1535 in G. Schanz Engl. Handelspolitik (1881) II. 385 The canvas, that goeth to the pokit with the hey and threde, that goeth to yt, weyeth about 2 nailles.
1618 Sussex Archaeol. Coll. (1851) 4 24 Paid 7s. to the hemp-dresser, for 14 nail of hemp-dressing.
1681 J. Worlidge Dictionarium Rusticum in Systema Agriculturæ (ed. 3) 329 A Naile, in some places eight pound, in some seven pound, being [perh.: a sixteenth] of a Hundred.
a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 80 Beef, in 1 Nail, 8 Pounds of common use.
1836 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Provinc. Sussex 25 Nail, eight pounds of beef or cheese.
b. A measure of land area (not identified). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of area > [noun]
nail1442
mat1613
centrobaric1624
labour1825
1442 Rolls of Parl. V. 59/1 Half a pek and a nayle of Londe, Pasture and Hethe.
1556 in R. Renwick Abstr. Protocols Town Clerks Glasgow (1897) V. 3 To haif of the foir front and land nyne quartaris and ane naill.
Phrases
(principally in Branch II., exc. senses Phrases 2, Phrases 3a). P1. Proverbs.
a. one nail drives out another and variants: an unpleasant or difficult event or circumstance is often dispelled or displaced by another. Also to drive out one nail with (also by) another [compare classical Latin clāvō clāvum eicere, Hellenistic Greek ἥλῳ ἐκκρούειν τὸν ἧλον, ancient Greek ἥλῳ ὁ ἧλος ἐκκρούεται] .
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > substitute [phrase]
one nail drives out another?c1225
quid pro quo1560
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 296 Alswa as þe an neil [a1250 Titus nail] driueð ut þe oðer. alse þe brune of godes luue driueð þe brune of ful luue ut of þe heorte.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 25 (MED) Þanne þe kyng drof out on nayle wiþ anoþer [L. clavo clavum expellens] and took wreche of a gyle by a gyle.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xii. 113 Leat therefore one nayle driue out another nayle.
1586 G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 191 One danger is expelled by an other, As one nayle is driuen out by an other.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. iv. 191 Euen as one heate, another heate expels, Or as one naile, by strength driues out another. View more context for this quotation
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 357 They rather sought by one Nail to drive out another, than openly to denounce War against them.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiv. 339 It was necessary, reply'd I, that one Nail should drive out another; for thou'dst been repining still, had not Mr. Murray been turn'd over to thee.
1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard I. i. i. 21 Let me advise you on no account to fly to strong waters for consolation, Joan. One nail drives out another, it's true; but the worst nail you can employ is a coffinnail.
1874 Ld. Lytton Fables in Song II. 57 By the last disease the first was swallow'd, Just as one nail drives out another one.
1900 Athenæum 27 Oct. 547/2 Nail drives out nail.
1996 F. Popcorn & L. Marigold Clicking iii. 399 A phrase she learned from her mother.., specifically in reference to how to handle the ending of a love affair: ‘One nail drives out another’.
b. to hit (also †smite) the (right) nail on the head and variants: to get to the heart of the matter, to say or do exactly the right thing.
ΚΠ
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 152 Ȝyf I here any mor þes materys rehersyd, I xal so smytyn þe nayl on þe hed..þat it schal schamyn alle hyr mayntenowrys.
c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) 51 (MED) But euer he hitteth on þe heed of þe nayle-is ende, That the pure poynt pricketh on þe sothe.
a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.iiv And yf that he hyt The nayle on the hede It standeth in no stede.
1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner sig. E6 His chiefe pride resteth in hitting the nayle on the head with a quainte Epithite.
1625 J. Hart Anat. Urines ii. xi. 122 One may through hap..hit the naile on the head.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 75 If in giving their judgments, forsooth, they have not hit the naile on the head.
1700 S. L. tr. C. Schweitzer Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 327 At last they ignorantly hit the nail on the head, saying that the Devil was in him.
1761 A. Murphy Way to keep Him (ed. 4) ii. 32 You have not hit the right nail o' the head.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. i. v. 46 He hit the right nail on the head: for he let me do what I pleased.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist III. xli. 107 You've hit the right nail upon the head, and are as safe here as you could be.
1901 Speaker 20 July 450/1 Academism is all very well, but..it too often muffles the hammer of criticism, which ought to hit the nails of economic theory hard and on the head.
1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After ii. i. 120 Not..that Ibsen doesn't hit the moral nail on the head every time.
1994 I. McMillan Dad, Donkey's on Fire 110 George smiled..‘You've hit the nail on the head!’
c. to drive the nail (in) (to the head) (also to drive the nail home): to pursue a matter to its conclusion; to clinch an argument; to make a strong impression on the mind. Similarly to clinch a nail, to beat the nail back, and variants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > complete or conclude action [verb (intransitive)] > push a matter to a conclusion
to clinch a nailc1460
to drive the nail (in) (to the head)c1460
to pin the basketa1659
to drive the nail home1690
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > confound, confute [phrase]
bray1535
to beat the nail back1581
to nail (a fact, information, etc.) to the counter1842
to nail a lie (also charge, etc.)1843
to sew up one's stocking1859
to knock galley-west1875
to knock the bottom out of1875
to shoot down in flames1943
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 13 (MED) He seide me, ‘nay, sett there a nayle; Speke me no more therof.’]
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 3464 (MED) When Geffrey had a-spied they were in such þouȝt..Hym list to dryv in bet þe nayll til they wer fully cloyid.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cclxxviijv Let hym haue a respect to him selfe and his chyldren..and dryue not the nayle to the head.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 96 That fellow could not be without a reply to beate backe the nayle againe.
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature iv. 22 To drive this naile further to the very head: reflexing more fully on the Prodigals huskes.
1690 Def. Dr. Walker 6 But to drive the Nail home, take the Testimonial of Gervase Squire, Esq.
1711 J. Anderson Countrey-man's Let. to Curat 83 Which drives the Nail to the Head.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 34 To gain any success, we must proceed with discretion.., driving the nail that will go.
1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. ii. ii. 100 He was..brisk at a bargain, so the nail was soon driven.
1897 F. Barrett Harding Scandal xiv He must drive the nail right home.
1958 Listener 28 Aug. 319/3 Our local radiophonicists..have too often seized upon noise in the higher octaves to drive home dramatic nails.
2000 Boston Globe (Nexis) 20 Feb. (Books section) l1 The manner in which a courtship is foisted upon him..suggests the societal misogyny that must have made it a bit more tempting for Kikutani to drive those nails home.
d. (for the) want (also lack) of a nail: (the opening words of a proverb (see quot. 1618), expressing the idea that) neglect of small, apparently insignificant details can have serious and far-reaching consequences. Cf. for (the) want of at want adj. and n.2 Phrases 1.
ΚΠ
1496 J. Molinet Faictz et Dictz (1937) II. xxxi. l. 768 Par ung seul clou perd on ung bon cheval.]
1618 T. Adams Happines of Church 396 The French-men haue a miltary Prouerbe; The losse of a nayle, the losse of an Army. The want of a nayle looseth the shooe, the losse of shooe troubles the horse, the horse indangereth the rider, the rider breaking his ranke molests the company, so farre as to hazard the whole Army.
1758 Edinb. Mag. Apr. 133/1 He adviseth to circumspection and care, even in the smallest matters..adding, ‘For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost’.
1832 Indiana Jrnl. 28 Apr. 1/3 His door hinge comes off for want of a nail, and the door is destroyed for want of a hinge, and his mow is trampled on and gorged for want of a door, and all this loss is occasioned by not timely driving or clenching a single nail.
1873 Magnet (London) 10 Mar. 2/6 A conspiracy which must have taken months of work.., has suddenly collapsed ‘for the lack of a nail’, and the whole labour is lost.
1925 S. O'Casey Juno & Paycock I. in Two Plays 16 You bring your long-tailed shovel, an' I'll bring me navvy... For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, an' for want of a horse the man was lost.
1979 Managem. Notes (U.S. Dept. Agric.) Nov. 31/1 For lack of a nail... Have you heard the story of the million dollar computer that couldn't run because the wrong amphenol connector was installed?
2010 Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. May 191 (heading) For want of a nail: how absences cause events.
P2. † b. to blow (on) one's nails: to wait; to mark time; to be unable to do anything useful. Cf. to twiddle one's thumbs at twiddle v.1 2c. Obsolete.† c. to pare the nails of [compare French rogner les ongles (1725 in the passage translated in quot. 1809; c1260 in Old French)] : to impose restrictions on; to control. Cf. to clip the wings of at clip v.2 1d. Obsolete.† e. from the tender nail [ultimately translating Hellenistic Greek ἐξ ὀνύχων (also ἐξ ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων); compare classical Latin dē tenerō ungui, Horace Odes 3. 6. 24] : from early youth. Obsolete. rare.† f. to the (also a) nail [after classical Latin ad unguem, e.g. Horace Satires 1. 5. 32; compare Hellenistic Greek εἰς ὄνυχα, ἐπ' ὄνυχος and also Middle French, French à l'ongle (c1314 in Old French as a l'ungle)] : to a nicety, to perfection; to the utmost. Obsolete.‘An expression borrowed from sculptors who, in modelling, give the finishing touch with the nail; or joiners, who test the accuracy of joints in wood by the nail’ (C. T. Lewis and C. Short Lat. Dict. (1879)).
a. naked (also nice) as my nail: see naked adj. and n.1 Phrases 5, nice adj. and adv. Phrases 3b; tooth and nail: see tooth n. Phrases 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > cause to be idle or inactive [verb (transitive)] > occupy oneself triflingly with > kill (time or a period)
to blow (on) one's nails1566
to spin out1608
murder1700
kill1728
to bite one's nails1883
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1211 Lat us kepe oure stronge-walled townys untyll they have hunger and colde, and blow on their nayles.]
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Eiij All the reaste might blow their nayles.
1593 R. Bancroft Suruay Holy Discipline 194 They maie shutte the dore: but for openinge of it they maie blowe their nailes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) i. i. 107 Their loue is not so great..but we may blow our nails together, and fast it fairely out. View more context for this quotation
a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) V. 246 So that the King for any thing, that he has to do in these Matters, may sit and blow his Nails, for use them otherwise, he cannot.
1798 W. Cobbett Porcupine's Wks. (1801) VIII. 11 So that our Envoys..were suffered..to blow their nails from the 27th of September to the 8th of October.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > make humble [verb (transitive)]
edmodienc1175
lowc1175
meekc1175
lessa1382
abatec1390
abasea1393
belowc1400
meekenc1400
disadvance?c1425
simplec1450
lowlyc1485
humilea1492
chasten1526
to pare the nails ofa1549
lessen1579
vail1582
to take (something) a hole lower1591
destate1615
humblea1616
thorough-humblea1617
humiliate1656
level1712
unnichea1751
to level up, down1791
unpedestal1821
to take the starch out of1830
a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (?1555) sig. A4 I wyll follow myne owne mynd and myn old trade. Who shal let me, the deuyls nayles vnpared.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 229/1 God must needes paire the nailes [Fr. rabbatre les cloux form the nail heads], as well of vs men as women, and vse violence against vs.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xli. xxxiv. 938 It is nothing so good,..to take downe the Ætolians and pare their nailes, as to looke unto Philip that he wax not too great.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas III. vii. xv. 211 To pare his nails the closer, I had gone into the market, and informed myself of the prices.
d. to bite one's nails [compare classical Latin rōdere unguēs, Horace Satires 1. 10. 17, to bite the nails, i.e. to be buried in thought; Middle French ronger ses ungles to bite the nails (1370), ronger les ongles to concentrate (1580).] : to be nervous; to be bored; (also) to think hard, to concentrate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > worry about [verb (transitive)]
obsess1531
to bite one's nails1577
to doubt of1577
worry1959
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > cause to be idle or inactive [verb (transitive)] > occupy oneself triflingly with > kill (time or a period)
to blow (on) one's nails1566
to spin out1608
murder1700
kill1728
to bite one's nails1883
1577 tr. ‘F. de L'Isle’ Legendarie sig. Iviijv This caused the Cardinal and the rest of his brethren to bite their nailes.
1628 R. Hayman tr. J. Owen Certaine Epigrams ii. 14 in Quodlibets 'Tis not strange, if my Epigrams be meane, I doe not bite my nailes, nor beate my braine.
1721 T. D'Urfey Grecian Heroine ii. i, in New Opera's 108 Prosper ye, Sir, you'll give me leave to scratch, Bite my Nails, pore, or so, I cannot solve the Riddle.
1820 R. Anderson Enigma the First in Wks. I. 141 I'm but a word. My meaning quick explain; Come, study; bite your nails, then try again.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iv. xix. 155 A man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island..can't expect to appear as sane as you or me.
1922 Collier's 4 Mar. 7/2 I don't like to ballyhoo myself..but here's a picture which will make you..bite your nails.
1993 Bookseller Jan. 44 By the end of the week before Christmas, we reps were no longer biting our nails quite so hard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > [adverb] > from childhood
from (also fro, of) a child or childrenc1384
from the tender nail1603
of a child little1656
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 4 Loving them inwardly, and (as the proverbe saith) from their tender nailes [Fr. des les tendres ongles].
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > perfection > [adverb]
fullfremedlyOE
to envyc1369
to a wish1390
perfectlyc1395
consummately1529
sincerely1583
to the (also a) nail?1611
like a tansy1619
magisterially1625
(up) to the nines (rarely nine)?1719
puffickly1858
quintessentially1866
to the (also a) queen's taste1880
A-OK1961
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > completely [phrase] > completely or perfectly
to (or unto) perfectiona1425
to the letter?1495
to point1590
to the (also a) nail?1611
to a shaving1804
jam up1835
to the moment1845
to a (fine) point1861
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 321 A tall huge man; that to the naile, knew that rude sport of hand.
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Notes Horace, Epist. ii. xv Maenius is capital. The swell-feast buffoon to a nail.
1874 A. Trollope Phineas Redux II. iv. 25 As long as a seat was in question the battle should of course be fought to the nail.
1891 S. Mostyn Curatica 43 My peroration was never extempore, but always prepared beforehand, and polished to the nail.
P3. on the nail.† b. In suspension; in readiness. Obsolete. rare.† c. Of a vehicle: (probably) running smoothly, without getting caught in or causing ruts. Obsolete.† d. In a fix or trap; neatly caught. Obsolete. rare.
a. Immediately, at once; without the least delay. Usually with reference to the payment of money. [Probably after one or more earlier phrases of parallel construction arising in various languages as variants of parallels cited s.v. to the nail (see Phrases 2f). Compare Anglo-Norman payer sur le vngle to pay immediately and in full (a1350), French sur l'ongle exactly, perfectly (1606), and also Dutch (tot) op den nagel (in Middle Dutch as (tote) op den nagel ), German (now rare or obsolete) (bis) auf den Nagel (in Middle High German as (untz) auf den nagel ) in entirety, to the utmost, to the last detail. Compare also discussion s.v. supernaculum adv. N.E.D. (1906) notes that: ‘the explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question’.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > immediacy > [adverb]
soonc825
ratheeOE
rathelyeOE
rekeneOE
rekenlyOE
thereright971
anonOE
forth ona1000
coflyc1000
ferlyc1000
radlyOE
swiftlyc1000
unyoreOE
yareOE
at the forme (also first) wordOE
nowOE
shortlya1050
rightOE
here-rightlOE
right anonlOE
anonc1175
forthrightc1175
forthwithalc1175
skeetc1175
swithc1175
with and withc1175
anon-rightc1225
anon-rights?c1225
belivec1225
lightly?c1225
quickly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
hastilyc1275
i-radlichec1275
as soon asc1290
aright1297
bedenea1300
in little wevea1300
withoute(n dwella1300
alrightc1300
as fast (as)c1300
at firstc1300
in placec1300
in the placec1300
mididonec1300
outrightc1300
prestc1300
streck13..
titec1300
without delayc1300
that stounds1303
rada1325
readya1325
apacec1325
albedenec1330
as (also also) titec1330
as blivec1330
as line rightc1330
as straight as linec1330
in anec1330
in presentc1330
newlyc1330
suddenlyc1330
titelyc1330
yernec1330
as soon1340
prestly1340
streckly1340
swithly?1370
evenlya1375
redelya1375
redlya1375
rifelya1375
yeplya1375
at one blastc1380
fresha1382
ripelyc1384
presentc1385
presently1385
without arrestc1385
readilyc1390
in the twinkling of a looka1393
derflya1400
forwhya1400
skeetlya1400
straighta1400
swifta1400
maintenantc1400
out of handc1400
wightc1400
at a startc1405
immediately1420
incontinent1425
there and then1428
onenec1429
forwithc1430
downright?a1439
agatec1440
at a tricec1440
right forth1440
withouten wonec1440
whipc1460
forthwith1461
undelayed1470
incessantly1472
at a momentc1475
right nowc1475
synec1475
incontinently1484
promptly1490
in the nonce?a1500
uncontinent1506
on (upon, in) the instant1509
in short1513
at a clap1519
by and by1526
straightway1526
at a twitch1528
at the first chop1528
maintenantly1528
on a tricea1529
with a tricec1530
at once1531
belively1532
straightwaysa1533
short days1533
undelayedly1534
fro hand1535
indelayedly1535
straight forth1536
betimesc1540
livelyc1540
upononc1540
suddenly1544
at one (or a) dash?1550
at (the) first dash?1550
instantly1552
forth of hand1564
upon the nines1568
on the nail1569
at (also in, with) a thoughtc1572
indilately1572
summarily1578
at one (a) chop1581
amain1587
straightwise1588
extempore1593
presto1598
upon the place1600
directly1604
instant1604
just now1606
with a siserary1607
promiscuously1609
at (in) one (an) instant1611
on (also upon) the momenta1616
at (formerly also on or upon) sight1617
hand to fist1634
fastisha1650
nextly1657
to rights1663
straightaway1663
slap1672
at first bolt1676
point-blank1679
in point1680
offhand1686
instanter1688
sonica1688
flush1701
like a thought1720
in a crack1725
momentary1725
bumbye1727
clacka1734
plumba1734
right away1734
momentarily1739
momentaneously1753
in a snap1768
right off1771
straight an end1778
abruptedly1784
in a whistle1784
slap-bang1785
bang?1795
right off the reel1798
in a whiff1800
in a flash1801
like a shot1809
momently1812
in a brace or couple of shakes1816
in a gird1825
(all) in a rush1829
in (also at, on) short (also quick) order1830
straightly1830
toot sweetc1830
in two twos1838
rectly1843
quick-stick1844
short metre1848
right1849
at the drop of a (occasionally the) hat1854
off the hooks1860
quicksticks1860
straight off1873
bang off1886
away1887
in quick sticks (also in a quick stick)1890
ek dum1895
tout de suite1895
bung1899
one time1899
prompt1910
yesterday1911
in two ups1934
presto changeo1946
now-now1966
presto change1987
society > trade and finance > payment > [adverb] > immediate or cash
down?a1425
on the nail1569
spot1855
1569 T. Stocker tr. Plutarch Life of Demetre ii, in tr. Diodorus Siculus Hist. Successors Alexander iv. f. 140 He..made the paysaunts compound wt him for .xij. hundred Talents: which they payed on the nayle.
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. Gv Tell mee, haue you a minde to anie thing in the Doctors Booke? speake the word, and I will help you to it vpon the naile.
a1640 P. Massinger City-Madam (1658) i. i. 6 A paiment on the nail for a Mannor Late purchas'd by my Master.
1694 L. Echard tr. Plautus Epidicus i. iii, in tr. Plautus Comedies 90 I've occasion for a hundred Pounds down o' the Nail.
1720 J. Swift Run on Bankers in Wks. (1755) IV. i. 22 We want our money on the nail.
1764 Oxf. Sausage 74 I on the Nail my Battels paid.
1839 W. Carleton Fardorougha xviii. 424 Answer me that, on the nail!
1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. 165 He..paid for him on the nail with other people's money.
1922 C. E. Montague Disenchantment (1924) vi. 87 ‘We never used to open the afternoon letters till the next day.’ He felt that life would lose its old-world bloom if he had to do things on the nail.
1988 A. Macrae Awful Childhoods iv. 47 If she paid him cash on the nail he could do the same to the suppliers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > preparation > in preparation [phrase] > in a state of preparation or readiness
in a readiness1511
in procinct1540
in readiness1541
at a point1611
on the nail1623
1623 F. Ryves Let. in R. Parr Life J. Usher (1686) Coll. lxi. 301 After a while, that Negotiation was hung up upon the Nail, in expectance of the Princes return.
1846 W. S. Landor Citation & Exam. Shakespere in Wks. II. 276 He sighed too..and had ne'er a word on the nail.
ΚΠ
1679 tr. M. Mancini Apol. 96 While my Caleche..ran all on the Nayl [Fr. voloit] by the Road, and I endeavour'd by travelling all night to repair my loss of time.
1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Oct. xv. 73 It is in their Power to forbear such Work, till dry Weather favours their Design; and then Carts are drawn, as we call it, on the Nail, without damaging their arable Lands.
1765 G. Keate Temple-student 23 A Turnpike's made, you'll travel easy; Ruts, Bogs, and Clays no more prevail, You'll now run glibly on the Nail.
a1839 J. Smith Mem., Lett. & Comic Misc. (1840) I. 130 Your bowling-green roads..Are merely constructed for safety and ease; You ‘run on the nail’, so decidedly dry, You are puzzled to know if you ride, swim, or fly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > snare, trap, entanglement > [adjective] > entangled, trapped
intricate1526
intricated1565
laqueat1575
greedy1590
engaged1615
on the nail1810
1810 J. Porter Sc. Chiefs II. xii. 332 We shall have the rogues on the nail, yet.
a1849 H. Coleridge Schiller's Transl. Macbeth in Poems (1851) II. 274 With a golden burden the full net swagg'd. 'Tis down on the nail the yellow ones glimmer.
e. Contemporary, current; up-to-date. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > thinking about, consideration, deliberation > [adverb] > under consideration
in view?c1475
in one's eye?1567
in speculation1638
under consideration1652
on (upon) the tapis1690
on the carpet1726
in contemplation1773
on (also upon) the table1884
on the nail1886
1886 W. T. Stead in Contemp. Rev. May 666 The enormous advantage of being up to date, of discussing subjects that are, in the slang phrase, ‘on the nail’.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 Nov. 2/1 We must leave Spiritualism..for Theosophy, a subject at present very much ‘on the nail’.
1903 T. W. H. Crosland Five Notions 85 He likes his news frequent and newsy and neat, And he's right on the nail.
f. Exactly right.
ΚΠ
1958 G. Greene Our Man in Havana (1962) 11 ‘I mean, you are thinking of buying one?’ ‘That's it, old man, you've hit it on the nail.’
1978 M. Wandor et al. Journeyman Press 91 What she was really saying was half right on the nail, and half like a whirlpool that sucks everything into it.
1988 Pilot Nov. 41/2 I was advised to make an initial approach at 90 mph and cross the boundary at 85... I arrived on the nail a few feet above the runway threshold at the recommended 85 mph.
P4. Scottish and Irish English.† b. off the nail: not quite sober. Obsolete. rare.
a. to go (also be) off at the nail: to behave strangely; to go mad; to be off one's head.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > be or become mad [verb (intransitive)]
dwelec900
wedec900
awedeeOE
starea1275
braidc1275
ravea1325
to be out of mindc1325
woodc1374
to lose one's mindc1380
madc1384
forgetc1385
to go out of one's minda1398
to wede (out) of, but wita1400
foolc1400
to go (also fall, run) mada1450
forcene1490
ragec1515
waltc1540
maddle?c1550
to go (also run, set) a-madding (or on madding)1565
pass of wita1616
to have a gad-bee in one's brain1682
madden1704
to go (also be) off at the nail1721
distract1768
craze1818
to get a rat1890
to need (to have) one's head examined (also checked, read)1896
(to have) bats in the belfryc1901
to have straws in one's hair1923
to take the bats1927
to go haywire1929
to go mental1930
to go troppo1941
to come apart1954
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 173 He is gone off at the Nail..means that he is gone out of all bounds of Reason.
1787 J. Elphinston Propriety Ascertained II. 119 But I dread he'l gae af at the nail wih hemsal: I wos he mayna saw aw staps, or gang a gray gate.
1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie II. xiv. 135 I see ye're terrified, and think I'm going off at the nail.
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance lix They [sc. servants] are really going off at the nail.
1897 W. Beatty Secretar xlix That woman's aff at the nail.
1902 J. J. Bell Wee Macgreegor ii Ye're fair aff at the nail the day!
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 193 To go off at the nail, to become flustered, confused.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > partially drunk
merrya1382
semi-bousyc1460
pipe merry1542
totty1570
tipsy1577
martin-drunk1592
pleasant1596
mellow1611
tip-merry1612
flustered1615
lusticka1616
well to live1619
jolly1652
happy1662
hazy1673
top-heavy1687
hearty1695
half-seas-over1699
oiled1701
mellowish1703
half channelled over1709
drunkish1710
half-and-half1718
touched1722
uppisha1726
tosie1727
bosky1730
funny1751
fairish1756
cherry-merry1769
in suds1770
muddy1776
glorious1790
groggified1796
well-corned1800
fresh1804
to be mops and brooms1814
foggy1816
how-come-ye-so1816
screwy1820
off the nail1821
on (also, esp. in early use, upon) the go1821
swipey1821
muggy1822
rosy1823
snuffy1823
spreeish1825
elevated1827
up a stump1829
half-cockedc1830
tightish1830
tipsified1830
half shaved1834
screwed1837
half-shot1838
squizzed1845
drinky1846
a sheet in the wind1862
tight1868
toppy1885
tiddly1905
oiled-up1918
bonkers1943
sloshed1946
tiddled1956
hickey-
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 657/1 I was what you would call a thought aff the nail, by the which my sleep was na just what it should have been.
P5. In comparisons, as hard (also tough, sharp) as nails.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > lacking emotional sensibility
unfeelingc1000
mis-feelinga1382
stonishc1450
unpainfulc1450
obtuse1509
sprightlessa1522
insensate1553
senseless1560
soulless1568
dull-esprited1591
impassible1592
bluntie1598
impenetrable1600
stockish1600
stolidc1600
incapable1601
stupid1605
tasteless1605
unsensitive1610
unexalted1611
insensible1617
unsensible1619
languid1622
immovable1639
dead-hearted1642
sterile1642
resupine1643
unaffectionate1645
iron-bound1648
resentlessa1649
torpid1656
torpulent1657
impassive1699
unreceptive1722
hebete1743
apathetic1744
stubbed1744
gustless1766
unresponsive1768
unsusceptible1779
tideless-blooded1786
unaffectioned1788
inaccessible1796
hebetudinous1820
unimpressible1828
insensitive1834
apathetical1835
non-sensitive1836
blunt-hearted1845
irreceptive1846
unreceptant1846
unimpressionable1847
anaesthetic1860
insentient1860
hard (also tough, sharp) as nails1862
unsqueamish1893
tone-deaf1894
unget-at-able1897
facty1901
zombie1937
pegamoid1957
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily strength > [adjective] > robust
strongeOE
hardOE
stalworthc1175
starka1250
stiff1297
steel to the (very) backa1300
stalworthyc1300
wightc1300
stable13..
valiant1303
stithc1325
toughc1330
wrast1338
stoura1350
sadc1384
wighty14..
derfc1440
substantialc1460
well-jointed1483
felon1487
robust1490
stalwart1508
stoutya1529
robustous?1531
rankc1540
hardy1548
robustious1548
stout1576
rustical1583
rustic1620
iron1638
robustic1652
swankinga1704
strapping1707
rugged1731
solid1741
vaudy1793
flaithulach1829
ironbark1833
swankie1838
tough as (old) boots or leather1843
skookum1847
hard (also tough, sharp) as nails1862
hard-assed1954
nails1974
1862 ‘Scrutator’ Country Gentleman I. v. 80 They have had their regular sweats, hard as nails in condition, splendid animals to look at, heads and tails well up.
1899 H. K. Douglas I rode with Stonewall (1940) xviii. 214 In this case General Jackson was as hard as nails... I never knew him in such a case to temper justice with mercy.
1926 J. Devanny Butcher Shop vii. 69 Dad was hard as nails with his men, though he worked as hard, or harder, than any of them himself.
1935 C. G. Givens Rose Petal Murders v. 28 Della was a pretty little thing. Tough as nails—on the surface. She could—and did—swear like a sailor.
1939 A. Christie Murder is Easy 77 Most of these rambling old dears are as sharp as nails in some ways.
1971 P. Berton Last Spike 406 ‘Hostess houses’ sprang up, presided over by such interesting ladies as Madame Foster..and Irish Nell, described as being ‘tough as nails but with a heart of gold’.
1994 Capilano Rev. Fall 14 She was sharp as nails, that one.
Compounds
C1. (In senses 1 and 2.)
a. General attributive.
(a) † nail-reach n. Obsolete rare
nail-edge n.
ΚΠ
1991 Lancet 9 Feb. 356/2 In one study, in patients who had not previously undergone surgery, recurrence was seen in only 9% (of 67) of toenails treated by nail-edge excision.
nail fold n.
ΚΠ
1899 Arch. Surg. 10 147 The nail-fold over the lunula is prolonged forwards, over the bed, as a fan-shaped, fleshy pterygium.
1979 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Dec. 1588/1 The cuticle, which normally effectively seals the potential space between the nail and the overlying nailfold.
2001 Ottawa Sun (Nexis) 10 June s20 For serious infections cortisone is injected into the nail fold.
nail-joint n.
ΚΠ
1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 2 Aug. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) V. 46 Has three joints exclusive of the nale joint.
1834 Penny Cycl. II. 437 The index and middle fingers..being connected together as far as the nail-joint.
1906 N.E.D. at Fillip v. To strike with a fillip; to tap smartly with the nail-joint of the finger.
nail matrix n.
ΚΠ
1858 H. Gray Anat. 545 The part of the cutis beneath the body and root of the nail is called the matrix.]
1876 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 2) I. iv. 177 Onychia maligna is a disease of the nail matrix..far more severe and obstinate.
1968 H. O. Mackey & J. P. Mackey Handbk. Dis. Skin (ed. 9) xxxiv. 346 The underneath layer forms the nail matrix and extends forward to correspond with the outline of the lunula.
1985 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 82 8753/2 At 2-4 hr, the site [on a dog's paw] was shaved to remove the clot and as little nail matrix as possible.
nail quick n.
ΚΠ
1970 Daily Tel. 21 Oct. 17/7 [He] then took a sharp instrument.., grabbed his forefinger and flashed a cut on the top from the nail-quick to the first joint.
1997 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 14 Feb. a11 (heading) A vet cauterizes a nail quick with silver nitrate.
ΚΠ
a1652 R. Brome New Acad. i. i. 6 in Five New Playes (1659) Let him take heed, he comes not in my Nayl-reach.
nail root n.
ΚΠ
1957 J. Z. Young Life of Mammals ii. 41 The nail grows by proliferation of the cells of the nail root.
1994 Monumenta Nipponica 49 57 If at least the nail root remains, no difficulty will be experienced in getting the flesh to grow back.
nail-score n.
ΚΠ
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago 45 Nail-scores, wide as the finger, striped her back.
nail wall n.
ΚΠ
1855 T. H. Huxley in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 477/1 They are enclosed within raised ridges of the whole integuments, the nail walls.
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 101/2 Nail-wall, the folding skin overlapping each side of the nail.
2001 Mirror (Nexis) 8 May (M section) 30 Make sure to leave the side of the nail alone when filing. This is the nail wall, which is vital for keeping the nail healthy and a good shape.
nail width n.
ΚΠ
1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 42 The glass was as thick as half the nail-width of his little finger.
1986 Evolution 40 542/2 Most other standard external measurements, e.g...nail width,..followed the ordering of species based on total mass.
(b)
nail-bearing adj.
ΚΠ
1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 201 Nail-bearing kangaroo, Macropus unguifer.
1972 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 264 332 The only departure from the essential Primate pattern of nail-bearing digits is found in the Strepsirhini and the Tarsiers.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 1 June c1/2 A nail-bearing great toe gave euprimates greater precision in climbing small branches than that possessed by any potential predators.
b. In the names of articles used for the care of the nails.† nail-knife n. Obsolete rare† nail-picker n. Obsolete rare† nail-scraper n. Obsolete
nail brush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > implement for cleaning nails
nail brush1801
nail-picker1810
nail-scraper1810
toilet brush1897
1801 M. Nugent Jrnl. 31 July (1839) I. 25 I wish Lord B. would wash his hands, and use a nail-brush, for the black edges of his hands really make me sick.
1994 Hispanic Apr. 76/2 This rattan basket from Lillian Vernon comes with a body brush, nail brush, complexion brush, mirror, loofah mit, and loofah face sponge.
nail buffer n.
ΚΠ
1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. No. 117. 328/1 Solid Silver Nail Buffer, fancy handle, 4½ inches long.
1997 M. Khalvati Entries on Light 64 In antique shops, running her thumb along napworn velvet. A nail buffer.
nail-clipper n. (now usually in plural).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > instruments used on the nails > for cutting
nail-saxOE
nail-knifec1225
nail parer1683
nail scissors1846
nail-clipper1896
1896 Ipswich Jrnl. 4 Apr. 6/2 The stock-in-trade needed [by the poodle-clipper] is a small-sized clipping machine.., a nail-clipper,..and a large apron.
1945 J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xvi. 67 Dora..was there to buy a pair of nail-clippers.
1978 S. King Stand xlv. 525 He took a nail-clipper from his pants pocket and went to work on his fingernails.
nail enamel n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > polish for nails
nail polish1857
polish1906
nail enamel1907
nail varnish1926
nail lacquer1966
1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 538/3 Diamond Nail Enamel..box 0/10½.
1990 W. Coleman Afr. Sleeping Sickness 109 In lipstick and nail enamel.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > instruments used on the nails > for cutting
nail-saxOE
nail-knifec1225
nail parer1683
nail scissors1846
nail-clipper1896
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) 51 Irnene gadien, kene te keoruen al þet ha rinen to, ase neil cniues.
nail lacquer n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > polish for nails
nail polish1857
polish1906
nail enamel1907
nail varnish1926
nail lacquer1966
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 101/2 Nail lacquer, nitrocellulose dissolved in Butyl Acetate and allied substances forming, when dry, a hard, tough, resistant film on the surface of the nail.
1991 High Life (Brit. Airways) May 117 (advt.) Colour Harmony by Helena Rubenstein (contains: 1 lipstick range forever, 1 shiny nail lacquer, 1 volumatic black mascara).
nail pick n.
ΚΠ
1881 Harper's Mag. Mar. 531/1 In the pocket [of Dutch gentlemen] was the tongue-scraper, tooth, ear, and nail pick, the whole shutting within a guard or handle.
2000 Marketing (Nexis) 20 July 34 A Brand Logistics offers a manicure kit with clippers, file and nail pick in a brushed aluminium foldaway box.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > implement for cleaning nails
nail brush1801
nail-picker1810
nail-scraper1810
toilet brush1897
1810 Splendid Follies I. 125 Tooth-brush, nail-picker, tongue-scraper.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > implement for cleaning nails
nail brush1801
nail-picker1810
nail-scraper1810
toilet brush1897
1810 Splendid Follies I. 10 Away too went combs and razor..; the wash-ball, the nail-scraper.
1996 Current Anthropol. 37 161 Thumbnail scraper.]
nail varnish n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > polish for nails
nail polish1857
polish1906
nail enamel1907
nail varnish1926
nail lacquer1966
1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 495/2 ‘Elite’ Nail Varnish..bot. 1/6.
1987 F. Kuppner Intelligent Observ. Naked Women 50 Why produce transparent nail varnish too?
C2. (In sense 4.)
a. General attributive.† nail apparatus n. Obsolete rare† nail-chapman n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 875 The first nail apparatus to which I shall particularly advert is due to Dr. Church.
nail boot n.
ΚΠ
1923 D. H. Lawrence Ladybird: Fox: Captain's Doll 242 The other fellows with sticks and nail-boots had now taken heart and were scrambling like crabs past our hero.
1996 Daily. Tel. (Nexis) 14 July 1 One hundred years ago, Henry William Holder..posed for photographs in the Caucasus Mountains dressed in Norfolk jacket, plus-fours, nail boots and a felt-brimmed hat.
nail box n.
ΚΠ
a1706 J. Evelyn Direct. for Gardiner (1932) 107 2 Hammers 1 Naile box divided in 4.
1890 A. Conan Doyle White Company (1899) xxvi. 243 This nail that he hath sold you was taken from my nail-box.
1999 Boston Globe (Nexis) 21 Feb. 13 Bisbee's basement workshop is a litter of nail boxes, empty beer bottles, and piles of welded nails.
ΚΠ
1685 Dangerfield's Mem. 17 [Received] of a Nail-Chapman 10s.
nail factory n.
ΚΠ
1809 Deb. Congr. U.S. 13 Aug. (1853) App. 2250 The Boston iron and nail factory.
1904 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 12 267 There are now in Russia 826 iron mills, including in this number the factories of agricultural machinery, nail factories, engine, boiler, locomotive, and car factories.
2001 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 14 July (Floridean section) p. 1 d You may naively think that a good old hammer must be pretty green..but what about the toxic effluent from that nail factory in distant China?
nail hammer n.
ΚΠ
1636 Edinb. Test. LVII. f. 256, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Nail In the bink ane cruik studie with twa naill hammeris.
1847–51 J. Brown Forester 75 A common nail-hammer,..with claws for pulling out nails.
1993 J. A. Hufnagel Stanley Compl. Bk. Home Repair & Improvem. i. i. 26 A nail hammer has a claw with a sharp V notch that grips nails as you pull them loose.
nail-length n.
ΚΠ
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 876 The shears which cut the rod into nail-lengths.
nail machine n.
ΚΠ
1795 T. Jefferson Let. 14 Nov. in Papers (2000) XXVIII. 527 Biby's boats..have not brought my 4d. nail machine nor hoop iron.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 792/2 In mechanical trades there is a fear that such teaching will unfit the boy for tending a nail machine or a shoe-pegging machine.
1983 Amer. Metal Market (Nexis) 1 Sept. 2 There are about 32 nail machines and other wire drawing equipment along with three oil tempering furnaces.
nail mill n.
ΚΠ
1832 New-Eng. Mag. Apr. 345/2 There were several forges and furnaces for making iron, and, in all America, one slitting mill, one nail mill, and one paper mill.
1988 Amer. Q. 40 347 This site is most probably a nail mill where iron cut nails would have been made.
nail-print n.
ΚΠ
1839 S. R. Smith Causes of Infidelity Removed 227 The sad and loving countenance marred by the crown of thorns down to the feet identified by nail-prints.
1890 Archaeologia 52 687 The left arm, with open hand, showing the nail-print, is extended downwards.
1928 F. C. Mason Unchanging Mask 29 Who walks wet sand..Knows something of the nail-print and the nail.
nail-shank n.
ΚΠ
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 877 The nail shank being still firmly held in the jaws of the vice.
1990 N. Baker Room Temperature ii. 9 Instead of the floor's usual contributions—the nail-shank knuckle pops, the load-bearing grunts..there was at this moment no floor noise at all.
nail-shop n.
ΚΠ
1847 H. Miller First Impressions Eng. viii. 146 Little brick houses, with a nail-shop in each.
1990 P. Muldoon Madoc ii. 70 Apart from a leak of yellow From the nail-shop where Shad is slowly turning a felloe Everything's ship-shape.
nail trade n.
ΚΠ
1727 A. Boyer Dictionaire Royal (rev. ed.) (at cited word) The Nail-trade,..commerce de Cloux.
1893 Econ. Jrnl. 3 28 At Cradley Heath the nail trade..has been almost entirely transferred to factories.
1993 Dict. National Biogr.: Missing Persons 228/2 Originally in the nail trade, in the 1620s he turned to iron manufacture.
b. Instrumental.† nail-bestudded adj. Obsolete rare† nail-bored adj. Obsolete rare† nail-shoed adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1862 W. Barnes Hwomely Rhymes I. 185 The nail-bestudded woaken door.
ΚΠ
1564 T. Harding Answere to Iuelles Chalenge xvii. f. 167v That thorne prikte, naileboared, sperepearsed, and other wise woonded, rent, and torne body.
nail-encrusted adj.
ΚΠ
1990 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Mar. 29/2 The original purchaser of one of the letters..was murdered by a nail-encrusted pipe bomb.
1996 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 6 Jan. (Life section) 1 Workers sat or squatted on nail-encrusted wooden planks.
nail-pierced adj.
ΚΠ
1761 F. Fawkes Orig. Poems & Transl. 101 Low at her feet he bow'd his nail-pierc'd head.
1844 E. B. Barrett Drama of Exile in Poems I. 114 Look out, O Jehovah, to this I bring before Thee, With a hand nail-pierced.
1984 E. Osers tr. M. Holub On the Contrary 246 Holding the cigar in his nail-pierced and bleeding hand.
nail-scarred adj.
ΚΠ
a1862 G. W. Bethune Let. in A. R. Van Nest Mem. of Rev. G. W. Bethune (1867) iv. 388 The Master has all things in his nail-scarred hands.
1967 G. Watkins in Coast to Coast 1965–6 205 Nail-scarred planks.
2001 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch (Nexis) 14 Apr. (Religion section) b6 Jesus had to..let him [sc. Thomas] touch his nail-scarred palms and sides.
ΚΠ
1850 Househ. Words 6 Apr. 26/2 A sort of leather-legged, nail-shoed old gentleman.
nail-studded adj.
ΚΠ
1821 T. L. Beddoes Improvisatore ii. 66 With trembling hand he fitted the old key In the nail-studded door.
1852 Southern Literary Messenger 18 357/2 The panes were small and diamond-shaped, the upper portion arched, and all were secured by thick, nail-studded shutters.
1987 R. McCammon Swan Song xiv. xciii. 930 He attacked the nearest machine, battering frenziedly at it with his nail-studded palm.
c. Similative.
nail-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1838 R. D. Grainger in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 490/1 The secreting canals are..nail-shaped.
1986 Bull. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 20 55 Poronia punctata..Stromata nail-shaped.
C3. In the names of people or machines making or working with nails.† nail-bearer n. Obsolete rare† nail-minder n. Obsolete rare† nail selector n. Obsolete rare† nail-tacker n. Obsolete rare† nail-tinner n. Obsolete rare† nail-weigher n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1871 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera I. ii. 5 Fors, the Nail-bearer, means the strength of Lycurgus, or of Law.
nail clincher n.
ΚΠ
1863 Sci. Amer. 26 Dec. 405/1 (heading) Improved nail clincher and nippers.
1991 Arena Summer 129/2 Can you imagine strolling into Lauren's Polo store on Madison Avenue and asking where the buffalo alligator nail clinchers are kept?
nail drawer n.
ΚΠ
1794 Repertory of Arts 1 247 The nail-drawer in the action of extracting a spike.
1868 Sci. Amer. 25 Apr. 264/1 (heading) Improved combination hammer, nail drawer, forceps, etc.
2000 P. Bishop Small Tools Handbk. iii. 38 (caption) An old chisel adapted to become a nail drawer.
nail extractor n.
ΚΠ
1873 J. C. Hepburn Japanese & Eng. Dict. 146/1 Kugi-nuki, nail extractors, pincers.
2001 Borneo Bull. (Nexis) 1 Oct. They entered the shop by forcing open the pad lock [sic] and the sliding door using a nail extractor.
nail manufacturer n.
ΚΠ
1792 N.-Y. Directory 48 Foster, Jacob, nail-manufacturer, Batavia-lane.
1867 E. T. Freedley Philadelphia & its Manuf. 46 A sugar-refiner consumes..the finished products of coppersmiths, nail-manufacturers, twine-spinners, printers and various others.
2001 Americas 1 Mar. ii. 3 Gerdau S.A...is..the world's largest nail manufacturer.
ΚΠ
1884 Birmingham Daily Post 24 Jan. 3/4 A small factory..wants a practical Nail-minder.
nail-puller n.
ΚΠ
1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 439/2 A very powerful modification..has lately been introduced into use under the name of the nail-puller.
1994 Select Homes & Food Sept. 10/2 Professional roofers use a shingle lifter, but you can use a flat crowbar or nail-puller.
ΚΠ
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 626/2 Nail Selector, a machine, or an attachment to a nail-machine, to pick out perfect nails from headless and ill-formed nails.
nail-smith n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other articles > [noun] > of nails
nailer1274
nail-maker1530
nail-smith1600
nailer-lad1847
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. vii. 29 Take..for your farmer a man..that knowe[s] to gouerne and amende all..tooles..otherwise..there must presently be admitted into wages a naile-smith for the cart.
1762 P. Murdoch tr. A. F. Büsching New Syst. Geogr. IV. 388 It also contains many nail-smiths or nailers.
1880 Appletons' Jrnl. June 544/2 John ends by being a nailsmith who late in life learns to know the happiness of modest labor and honest earnings.
2000 W. Rybczynski One Good Turn iv. 71 The whole procedure..took less than a minute, especially for an experienced ‘nailsmith’.
ΚΠ
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 284/1 The outer sole is applied by a ‘nail-tacker’.
ΚΠ
1819 Post Office London Directory 382 Nail-tinners, and Manufacturers of Chain Hooks.
ΚΠ
1832 Lincoln Herald 11 Sept. 2/4 An extraordinary affidavit of a nail-weigher of Dudley.
nail-worker n.
ΚΠ
1882 Standard 26 Dec. 2/3 He supplies..the nail-workers with their sixty-pound bundles of iron.
1987 Eng. Lit. Hist. 54 478 The scar..is both the mark seared into the face of the nail-worker, and the mark seared into the poet by his past.
C4. † nail-ball n. Gunnery Obsolete a ball (ball n.1 5a) with a metal spike projecting from it.† nail money n. Obsolete money paid for work done, esp. a bonus.† nail piercer n. Obsolete = nail-passer n.† nail-sax n. Obsolete a knife for paring the fingernails or toenails, a razor, a sharp knife.† nail-strip n. Obsolete = nail-plate n. 1.† nail-stub n. Obsolete a worn horseshoe nail, a stub-nail.† nail-tumbler n. Obsolete rare a part of the lock mechanism of a rifle.
ΚΠ
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 193/2 Nail Balls, a missile, consisting of a strong nail, with a ball thereto attached while in the act of casting.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Nail-ball, a round projectile with an iron pin protruding from it, to prevent its turning in the bore of the piece.
nail bed n. Anatomy the skin that underlies and gives rise to a nail or claw.
ΚΠ
1883 Manufacturer & Builder Oct. 235/3 The nails..rest upon their nail beds in much the same manner as the epidermis or scarf-skin lies on the true skin or derma.
1957 J. Z. Young Life of Mammals ii. 41 The nail of man..is usually considered to be a modified stratum lucidum and the underlying corium (nail bed) is very vascular.
1993 Dog World Oct. 12/3 The Irish Water Spaniel is still troubled with some genetic problems... Nail bed disease, seizures and hyperthyroidism are present in the breed to a limited extent.
nail blank n. a piece of metal ready to be shaped into a nail.
ΚΠ
1851 Sci. Amer. Feb. 158/2 I claim the simple combination of the punch, the slotted bed die, the heading die, the header slide, discharging orifice and header..whereby they are made to separate the nail blank from the rolled plate.
1988 Amer. Metal Market (Nexis) 96 5 Each ‘nailer’ operates four machines that cut the nail ‘blanks’ one by one from a strip of hard, flat steel.
nail-board n. a board studded with nails.
ΚΠ
1630 J. Taylor Fight at Sea in Wks. iii. 34/1 They stayed some halfe an houre..tearing vp our naile-bords vpon the Poope and the trap-hatch.
1964 Ecology 45 64/2 Root samples were excavated by pressing the nail-boards into the trench wall with jacks.
1989–90 Geo Special Winter 58/1 The first roadblock after 11 minutes: nail-boards thrown across the road.
nail bomb n. a bomb, used esp. by terrorists, containing nails to increase the chance of injuries.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > explosive device > [noun] > bomb > fragmentation
fragmentation bomb1918
grass cutter1925
parafrag bomb1944
scatter bomb1961
lazy dog1965
cluster bomb1967
pellet bomb1967
mother-bomb1971
nail bomb1971
1971 New Scientist 26 Aug. 483/3 They will assess the effects on the elderly, the sick, children..of the explosives, nail-bomb, indiscriminate rifle and machine gun fire.
1993 Guardian 30 Oct. 13/2 At least 42 people were injured yesterday when a nail bomb ripped through a train carriage in India's financial capital, Bombay.
nail gall n. a small red nail-shaped gall which forms on the leaves of lime trees ( Tilia species) in response to the presence of the gall mite Eriophyes tiliae.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > gall or abnormal growth
gall1398
elationc1420
dog rose1526
tumour?1541
to-growing1562
gall-nut1572
gall-apple1617
apple1668
by-fruit1682
witches' besom1849
witches' broom1856
mad-apple1868
nail gall1879
marble gall1882
gall-knob1892
scroll-gall1895
twig-gall1900
cecidium1902
1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 46/1 The lime-leaf ‘nail-galls’ of Phytoptus tiliae closely resemble the ‘trumpet-galls’ formed on American vines by a species of Cecidomyia.
1951 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) III. 1345/1 Nail-galls, galls on leaves of Lime and other trees somewhat resembling tin-tacks driven through the leaf tissues. They result from attacks of species of Phytoptus.
1981 S. T. Buczacki & K. M. Harris Pests, Dis. & Disorders Garden Plants 254 Nail gall mite. Eriophyes tiliae.
nail gun n. a device which uses explosive cartridges to drive nails into place (cf. nail driver n.).
ΚΠ
1971 Daily Tel. 18 Oct. 5/3 Some workers on building sites could become killers through ‘stupid, wilful and highly dangerous’ use of rivet and nail guns, says a report by the Factory Inspectorate today.
2000 R. F. Hamilton Marxism, Revisionism, & Leninism ii. 49 In recent years, the nail gun has replaced the hammer for some routine tasks.
ΚΠ
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod iii. i. 124 They also claimed every one of them six crowns as nail money, for affixing the blazon of arms to the pavilions.
nail parer n. (a) an instrument for paring the fingernails or toenails; (b) a person who pares the fingernails or toenails.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > instruments used on the nails > for cutting
nail-saxOE
nail-knifec1225
nail parer1683
nail scissors1846
nail-clipper1896
1683 J. Wilding in C. R. L. Fletcher Collectanea (1885) I. 257 For a nail-pearer.
1832 J. K. Paulding Selim, Benefactor of Mankind in Tales of Glauber-Spa II. 208 He had been chief cook to the Janizaries, and afterwards..nail-parer to the Grand Seignior.
1991 V. Skord Tales of Tears & Laughter 218 Chinese crimson, an eyeless needle, mirror fragments, a nail parer, and kettle rings.
nail-passer n. now rare an awl, a gimlet.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > auger or gimlet
augereOE
wimble1295
wimble?1362
gimletc1420
tarrierc1460
borel1488
wimbrekin1489
screw1577
nail piercer1584
worm1594
nail-passer1662
wimblet1670
1662 in D. G. Vaisey Probate Inventories Lichfield & District 1568–1680 127 Neil passers, chaffinge dishes and bridle bittes.
1839 G. C. Lewis Gloss. Words Herefordshire 71 Nailpiercer, or Nailpercer, and corruptly, Nail-passer, a gimlet.
1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 379 A bradawl, also formerly known as a nail-passer, bevelled from two sides of the round.
nail–patella syndrome n. Medicine an inherited (autosomal dominant) disorder characterized by hypoplasia or absence of the patellae, dystrophy of the nails, and often abnormalities of the elbow joints and nephropathy.
ΚΠ
1955 Ann. Human Genetics 19 312 The nail patella syndrome or hereditary onchyo-osteodysplasia is controlled by a regular autosomal dominant gene.
1994 Jrnl. Indian Med. Assoc. 92 124/1 The nail–patella syndrome is a relatively rare disease of autosomal dominant inheritance.
2001 Human Mutation 18 458 We report twenty-two novel mutations in the gene encoding the transcription factor LMX1B, previously shown to be mutated in persons with Nail Patella Syndrome.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > auger or gimlet
augereOE
wimble1295
wimble?1362
gimletc1420
tarrierc1460
borel1488
wimbrekin1489
screw1577
nail piercer1584
worm1594
nail-passer1662
wimblet1670
1584 in J. M. Bestall & D. V. Fowkes Chesterfield Wills & Inventories 1521–1603 (1977) 179 2 brason ladles a handsawe a nealperser a latting hamer.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ 211 Nail-piercers or Gimlets.
1722 W. Cheselden Anat. Humane Body (ed. 2) i. iii. 20 The Passage..may be made..with a Carpenter's Nail-Piercer or Gimblet.
1839 G. C. Lewis Gloss. Words Herefordshire 71 Nailpiercer, or Nailpercer, a gimlet.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > instruments used on the nails > for cutting
nail-saxOE
nail-knifec1225
nail parer1683
nail scissors1846
nail-clipper1896
OE Ælfric Gloss. (St. John's Oxf.) 320 Nouacula, nægelseax [c1225 Worcester næilsex].
OE Monasteriales Indicia (1996) xcix. 40 Nægel sexes tanc [read tacn] his þæt þu mid þinum scite fingre do ofer þinne oþerne swilce þu ceorfan wille and straca syþþan on þin leor mid þinum fingre swilce þu scearan wille.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15263 He igrap a nail-sax [c1300 Otho nailsex], sel-liche kene. and wel iwhæt.
nail scissors n. scissors for cutting the fingernails or toenails; (also figurative) the badge of rank of a general (see quot. 1919).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > instruments used on the nails > for cutting
nail-saxOE
nail-knifec1225
nail parer1683
nail scissors1846
nail-clipper1896
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 911 Nail scissors are made in pairs, and formed in opposite ways, or as ‘rights and lefts’, so that they may suit the respective hands.
1919 W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 35 Nail scissors, the crossed sword and baton worn as a badge of rank by a General.
1988 V. Alcock Monster Garden (1990) i. 5 Grey hairs growing out of her chin, which she trims once a week with her nail scissors.
ΚΠ
1863 Sci. Amer. 26 Dec. 410/2 I claim the improved machine, as..having its shear or cutter arranged with respect to the nail driver and nail strip carrier.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1505/2 The nail-strips are heated by being placed on their edges on red-hot coals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > shoeing of horses > [noun] > horseshoe > nail or stud
frost-nail1339
horseshoe-nail1415
horse-nail1598
talon-nail1688
toenail1841
nail-stub1851
frost stud1864
frost cog1867
rougha1884
1845 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 673 Horse-nails..which when worn out are collected with avidity as furnishing one of the best descriptions of scrap-iron, under the name of horse-nail stubs.]
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxiii. 541 Look ye, blacksmith, these are the gathered nail-stubbs of the steel shoes of racing horses.
nail-tailed wallaby n. (also †nail-tailed kangaroo) any of several rare, brightly-marked wallabies of the genus Onychogalea, which rotate their forelimbs when hopping and have a horny spur at the tip of the tail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > other types of
banded kangaroo1836
hare-kangaroo1841
melon1847
nail-tailed wallaby1859
tammar1926
quokka1928
nail-tail wallaby1965
1859 J. Gould Mammals Austral. (1863) II. 52 Onychogalea unguifer, Nail-tailed Kangaroo.
1886 F. Cowan Australia 36 Wallaby being a generic term..for a number of kangaroo-like animals specifically distinguished as the..nail-tailed-wallaby, and the like.
1926 A. S. Le Souef et al. Wild Animals Australasia 211 Mr. G. S. Shortridge found the crescent nail-tailed wallaby very local, living in low scrubby thickets.
1991 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 26 June 1/6 (caption) A rare bridled nail-tailed wallaby.
nail-tail wallaby n. = nail-tailed wallaby n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > other types of
banded kangaroo1836
hare-kangaroo1841
melon1847
nail-tailed wallaby1859
tammar1926
quokka1928
nail-tail wallaby1965
1965 D. Morris Mammals 47 Onychogalea unguifer. Northern nail-tail wallaby... Onychogalea fraenata. Bridled nail-tail wallaby... Onychogalea lunata. Crescent nail-tail wallaby.
1984 D. Macdonald Encycl. Mammals II. 862/2 Genus Onychogalea. Three species, including the Bridled nailtail wallaby..and the Crescent nailtail wallaby.
1994 Conservation Biol. 8 440 Included are large mice and rats..bettongs, hare-wallabies, and nail-tail wallabies.
ΚΠ
1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 101 For Nail-tumbler, new..3d.
nail violin n. a musical instrument consisting of a semicircular wooden resonator studded with nails of varying lengths, played with a bow.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > other musical instruments > [noun] > bowed saw, etc.
nail violin1884
musical saw1927
saw1931
1884 E. Heron-Allen Violin-making v. 108 In the year 1740 a German musician, named Johann Wilde,..invented a curious instrument called a Nail-violin.
1992 N.Y. Times 8 Nov. (New Jersey Weekly section) 17/1 The director has..composed exotic background music, for instruments like glass harmonica, nail violin and nose flute.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
nailv.
/neɪl/, U.S. /neɪl/ I. Literal uses.
1. transitive. With prepositions. To fix or fasten with a nail or nails.Early examples usually relate to the crucifixion of Jesus.
a. With on, upon.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with nails
nailOE
clencha1250
clinkc1440
rivetc1450
cloyc1460
clowa1522
to nail up1532
clinch1570
clint1575
inclavate1666
to nail down1669
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxvii. 22 Dicunt omnes crucifigatur : cuoedon alle sie ahoen uel fæste genæglad on rode.
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xxvii. 23 At illi magis clamabant dicentes crucifigatur : heo swiðor cleopadun & cwædun siæ nægled on rode.
c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 171 Þa synfulle men sceolen iseon..þære næȝlæ swaðe, þe he wæs on rode mid inæȝlod.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 62 Godes honden weren ineilet o rode.
c1300 Assumption of Virgin (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1901) l. 35 He þat of hire nam blod..Heng Inayled on þe treo.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 2900 (MED) His skyn was schape al meete, And nayled on the same seete.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 63v (MED) Brugges ymade of liȝt tymber & tables or bordes fast nayled or bounden þerevppon.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vii. l. 1153 On charnaill bandis [he] nald it full fast and sone.
a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge (1991) 129 Oure Lord Jhesu Crist..offird Hymself to be naylid upon þe crosse for our lof.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xiii. 126 b Two winges nayled vpon the target with two great yron nailes.
1632 G. Sandys tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) xii. 405 The head thereof [sc. a deer] consecrated to Diana, and nailed on a Pine tree.
1679 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ix. 161 Instead of Nailing the Hindges upon the Door, they Rivet them on.
1785 Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 521 On the lower end of this head a leather is nailed, having a hole in its centre similar to the hole in the wood.
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I I. vi. 157 The royal anathema was nailed on the Episcopal gate at London.
1895 F. T. Elworthy Evil Eye vi. 217 Here in Somerset, horseshoes are nailed on stable doors..‘to keep off the pixies’.
1927 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 335 We sat on some boards nailed on the front bob of his old bobsled.
1999 J. Rothenberg tr. P. Picasso in Paradise of Poets 103 Modesto Castilla..sets his palette-mirror up facing the mirror that's nailed on the wall.
b. With to.
ΚΠ
a1225 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 203 (MED) I se þi fote and þine honden nailed [a1300 Digby I-nayled] to þo harde trie.
c1300 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Laud) 215 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 206 To grounde harde heo him caste..and to þe eorþe naileden him faste.
?c1350 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 50 (MED) At midday was ihesus crist y-nailed to þe rode.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 250v Þe laþþe..is y-nayled thwartouer to þe rafteres.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. 5814 (MED) It were weel meriere a man to gon at large Than with irenes be nailed to a blok.
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) 31 (MED) A particul of a naylle..Wt þe whyche Jhesu was y-naylled to þe crasse.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. ii The fenbrede is a thynne borde pynned or nayled moost commenly to the sheth.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. lxij What dyd he, when he was nayled to the Crosse.
1606 in W. Mackay & G. S. Laing Rec. Inverness (1924) II. 39 His lug [to be] naillit to the throne.
1665 R. Boyle Disc. iv. iii, in Occas. Refl. sig. E8 By cutting off several of the parts of the Tree, and by Nailing many of the rest to the Wall.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. lxvii. 341 The shoe that was nailed to the mast, being quite filled with our liberality.
1781 W. Cowper Expostulation 220 They..Seized fast his hand,..and nailed it to the tree.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 20 Hung [I] not here Nailed to this wall of eagle-baffling mountain.
1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises I. 39 Glory and success nailed themselves to the republican standards.
1884 Law Times Rep. 51 161/2 An iron bracket nailed to the corner of the chimney.
1953 E. Wilkins & E. Kaiser tr. R. Musil Man without Qualities I. xli. 191 She had been born in a squalid cabin in Galicia, where the mesusa was nailed to the door-post.
1992 C. McCarthy All Pretty Horses (1993) iii. 186 The floor of the room was made of boards but they were not nailed to anything.
c. With other prepositions, as about, across, along, over, etc.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 8242 A-boute þat tre A siluer cercle son naild he.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 47v (MED) Þey frette þilke bootys to gidre and nayled ouerþwart hem brode bordes.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 21 Pieces of Lead sized to, and nailed over the said Bolts.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. July 310/1 Their ends [sc. of wire] being fastened to the under parts of the boards at XX. by means of a list of tin, half inch broad, which is nailed over them.
1797 J. Curr Coal Viewer 19 This plate is nailed under the spending of the corf.
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. 336 Railing must be nailed across the boss..but when railing is not at hand, a strong straw rope is commonly used in its stead.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 215 A narrow piece can now be nailed along the top to keep all stiff.
1960 J. W. Bellah Sergeant Rutledge xvii. 80 Designated as Building 12 on the property lists and so marked with a painted board nailed over the front arch of the old ambulatory.
1994 P. Scupham Ark 40 He looks at netted thatch, close brickwork, The plywood lids nailed across the eyes.
d. In similes denoting extreme fixity.
ΚΠ
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 72 They..sit as close as if they were nailed to the Horse.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. xv. 135 The more they heard the Bell ring, the more they were frightened, and, as it were, nailed down in their Places. View more context for this quotation
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram I. i. ii. 21 As steady on his seat as if he were nailed to it.
1867 G. Meredith Vittoria I. xi. 187 First he called to his coachman to drive away, next to wait as if nailed to the spot.
1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim xl. 403 Dusk fell, hiding..the body of the dead man, which had been left lying with arms outstretched as if nailed to the ground.
1931 B. Miall tr. C. Guenther Naturalist in Brazil iv. 79 In the Jaboticaba, a myrtle-tree, even the trunk looks as though beaded with the blue-black fruits..that seem to be nailed on to the bark.
1989 Dance Dec. 57/1 Her toe seemed nailed to the ground as she remained on the spot.
2. To drive a nail or nails through or into.† d. transitive. Military. To spike (a cannon or other heavy gun) by driving a nail into the touch hole. Cf. to nail up 3 at Phrasal verbs. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To pierce or transfix with a nail or nails.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > bore, pierce, or perforate > with something sharp-pointed > pierce with nails
nailOE
OE Lambeth Psalter xxi. 17 Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos : Hig ðurhðygdon vel hi dulfon vel nægledun handa mine & fet mine.
c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 34 Iudas ȝeaf sancta helenæ þa fif næȝlæs ðe ure drihten mid inæȝlæd wæs.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 110 Hi nailed him in hond and fete.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 39 (MED) Þe foure nayles þat Criste was nayled with thurgh fote and hand.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 318 (MED) Thrugh feete and handys nalyd was he.
1571 Accts. Treasurer Scotl. f. 148 For thre pulder barrellis nalit with ledder.
1590–1 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) I. ii. 237 Be the naillis sa that naillit Jesus.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1877) II. 100 John Daye..had one of his eares nayled, for seditious wordes speakinge of the Quenes Highnes.
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 990 Jael, who with inhospitable guile Smote Sisera sleeping through the Temples nail'd . View more context for this quotation
1832 S. L. Fairfield Last Night of Pompeii i. 75 He had stretched and nailed, Through palm and sole, the Martyr.
1866 A. C. Swinburne Poems & Ballads 171 The high God bound..Man's saviour, and with iron nailed him through.
1887 ‘M. Field’ Cup of Water ii. i, in Canute the Great 133 The fact, That must be nailed through flesh and bone to fasten My unsubmitting senses to the cross, Is this: I am betrothed.
1986 N. Dubie Springhouse iii. 47 By November It [sc. an owl] will be nailed through the breast to the barn.
b. transitive. To construct with nails; to fix or fasten with nails. In quot. c1385: spec. to equip (a spear) with a point. Frequently with adverbs, as across, in, together, etc.
ΚΠ
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2503 And eek squyers Naylynge the speres and helmes bokelynge.
c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 92 (MED) At þe nethir ende of þe pavisse, he gart nayle a burde.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3376 (MED) If any Naue to it neȝe, þat naylid is with iryn, Þen cleuys it ay to þe clife carryg & othyre.
1495 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 155 For a c grete spykes of Iron for to nayle & fasteyn the seid plankes..at the dokke hedde.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 643/1 Nayle this same with thre or foure nayles and than it is sure.
1616 in J. Imrie & J. G. Dunbar Accts. Masters of Wks. (1982) II. 16 For naillis to naill the daillis togidder.
1638 David's Troubles Remembred f. 18 A child and mother..Are nailed fast together with a Dart.
1716 H. Wanley Let. 26 Jan. (1989) 331 I helped also to Nail most of the Boxes.
1774 H. Kelly School for Wives v. 88 The carpenter who nails a Pantomime together, will be entitled to more applause than the best comic poet in the kingdom.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. v. 94 She's but a rickle o' auld rotten deals nailed thegither, and warped wi' the wind and the sea.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxxvii. 239 Not long after one o'clock there was a slight creak... It had come from the corner step of the staircase, which, as usual was loosely nailed.
1925 Today's Housewife Feb. 7/2 The little, curved reinforcing pieces in the corners of the chair and table were..first glued and then nailed into place.
1991 L. Fixel Truth, War, & Dream-game 153 He nailed together a few pieces [of wood], and saw that it formed the letter A.
c. transitive. To stud with or as with nails; to mark by driving in a nail. Now rare.With quot. 1695 cf. nail n. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > ornament [verb (transitive)] > stud with ornaments > with specific ornament
nailc1400
pin1688
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 599 A sadel..Ay-quere naylet ful nwe.
1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 29 A gyrdle nayled With siluer weyeng xl. pens.
1648 R. Fanshawe tr. B. Guarini Pastor Fido iii. ii. 91 Those Stars which nail Heav'ns pavement!
1695 Act 6 & 7 Will. III c. 10 §3 The..Commissioners shall..cause the said Keils and Boats so admeasured to be marked or nailed on each Side.
1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd i. 3 Earls were the wrights that wrought it, and silver nailed its doors.
1972 M. Woodhouse Mama Doll ii. 4 Boots nailed with what..are..called tricounis.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > putting weapons or equipment out of action > put weapons or equipment out of action [verb (transitive)] > silence a gun > by spiking
clowa1522
peg1551
to nail up1562
cloy1577
nail1598
spick1623
spike1644
wedge1680
spike1687
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres v. 138 That the Ordinance be not nayled, nor the munition fiered.
1643 True Informer E 1 b Some of their Ordnance were naild by the Kings Troopes the next morning after.
1690 J. Mackenzie Siege London-derry 17/1 The rest attending the Lord Kingston till they had broke the Trunnions, and nailed the heavier Guns.
1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea iii. 28 Attempting to Fire upon the Enemy with our Cannon, I found them all Nailed.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. iii, in Hist. Wks. (1813) I. 175 The French..broke their troops, nailed part of their cannon [etc.].
e. intransitive. U.S. To work as a carpenter; to drive nails. rare.
ΚΠ
1885 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 434 1st Conductor. ‘What did you do before you was a snatcher?’ Answer of 2nd Conductor, ‘Nailed.’
2009 N. Baker Anthologist xi. 175 I got him a hammer and a cupful of nails and he nailed, too, for a while.
II. Extended uses.† 4.
3.
a. transitive. To secure or immobilize as if by means of nails; to fix in a certain place, position, attitude, or occupation. Cf. to nail down 2 at Phrasal verbs.In earlier use esp. in extended metaphors. Cf. similes in sense 1d.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with nails > make secure by
nailc1175
need-nail1530
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (intransitive)] > with nails > make secure by
nail1582
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6049 All hiss lufe & all hiss lusst Iss naȝȝledd upp inn heoffne.
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 1184 O noble wyues ful of heigh prudence, Lat noon humilitee youre tonge nayle [v.r. nayille].
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iv. 3735 (MED) He lakked myht hir [sc. Fortune's] variaunt wheel to naille.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 6266 (MED) Meknes hath so her tonge nayled..They be as Muet as a ston.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 46 I am namd syr Polydor: with darts fel nayled heer vnder I lodge.
1622 J. Borough Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men (1843) 130 Wherein if I finde any thinge worth your Jewell house I will..make means to nayle them untill you may take further order.
1697 W. Congreve Mourning Bride ii. i. 17 Rivet..and nail me, where I stand ye Powers.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 92. ¶6 Coquetilla begs me not to think of nailing Women upon their Knees with Manuals of Devotion.
1792 G. Galloway Poems 47 For behold the whole city was nailed fast asleep.
1828 Lights & Shades Eng. Life II. 147 He is a shopman, and nailed all day behind the counter.
1861 G. D. Ruffini Dr. Antonio (new ed.) xxi Found poor Sir John nailed fast by a fit of the gout.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise June 482 A cry..of utmost agony That nailed me there.
1950 W. Stevens Auroras of Autumn 31 He wanted to walk beside it [sc. a river]..beneath a moon nailed fast.
1983 D. Smith Gray Soldiers 36 This neighborhood of whores, winos, pimps, tobacco yards seems to have nailed me stiff.
b. transitive. To fix or pin firmly to or on something, esp. with a weapon. Cf. to nail down 1 at Phrasal verbs. Also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restriction or limitation > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > to something
tinec1430
naila1522
conclude1548
astrict1588
to keep to ——1698
pin1718
thirl1864
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > quality of being restricted or limited > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > to or within something
tinec1430
naila1522
restrict1535
conclude1548
strait1581
astrict1588
retract1713
pin1718
thirl1864
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > attach or affix [verb (transitive)] > attach firmly
gluec1384
strain1387
naila1522
grapple1603
barnacle1863
grip1886
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. ix. 120 The fedderit arrow..nalyt hys hand plat to the left syde.
1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. A iijv Their attempt is still to nayle our best men to the wall with the speare of slaunder.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Sea Voy. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bbbbb2/2 To my revenge these robbers; take your arrowes, And nayle these monsters to the earth.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 487 The second Shaft..pierc'd his Hand, and nail'd it to his side.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 500 Those Whose headaches nail them to a noonday bed.
1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. i. i. 19 Nailing him on the very sod where he had sate..not an hour ago.
1886 J. M. Duncan Clin. Lect. Dis. Women (ed. 3) xxv. 221 Concave hardness is felt fixing or nailing the womb..to the region between the plane of the left ischium [etc.].
1943 Sun (Baltimore) 24 Aug. 2/6 We were able to nail those enemy squadrons to the western theater.
1990 L.A. Style Mar. 124/2 Redgrave..was not quite thespian enough to keep me nailed to a seat when everything about her was high schlock.
a. transitive. To fix or fasten (the eyes, mind, etc.) to, on the object of one's attention. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (transitive)] > stare or gaze at > fix (eyes) on
setc1330
firm1590
nail1591
stellc1817
1591 J. Lyly Wks. (1902) I. 424 I sawe an Oke, whose statelines nayled mine eies to the branches.
1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 228 He nailed his eyes, as it were, on the face of Mr. Clinton.
1792 J. Wolcot Captive in Wks. III. 227 Where the pale pond'ring wretch, in thought profound, Nails to the murky floor his haggard eye.
1829 W. Scott in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott (1839) IX. 304 I cannot nail my mind to one subject of contemplation.
1860 R. W. Emerson Worship in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 203 The man whose eyes are nailed not on the nature of his act, but on the wages.
b. transitive. To pin (one's faith) to something. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. To Rdr. sig. b2 They are cleane voyde of brayne, wit and common sense, that nayle all their beliefe so fast to the sight of their bodily eyes.
5. To catch, capture, to secure.
a. transitive. slang. To apprehend (a person); (also) to incriminate, convict.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > arrest > [verb (transitive)]
at-holda1230
attacha1325
resta1325
takec1330
arrest1393
restay?a1400
tachec1400
seisinc1425
to take upa1438
stowc1450
seize1471
to lay (also set, clap, etc.) (a person) by the heels?1515
deprehend1532
apprehend1548
nipa1566
upsnatcha1566
finger1572
to make stay of1572
embarge1585
cap1590
reprehend1598
prehenda1605
embar1647
nap1665
nab1686
bone1699
roast1699
do1784
touch1785
pinch1789
to pull up1799
grab1800
nick1806
pull1811
hobble1819
nail1823
nipper1823
bag1824
lag1847
tap1859
snaffle1860
to put the collar on1865
copper1872
to take in1878
lumber1882
to pick up1887
to pull in1893
lift1923
drag1924
to knock off1926
to put the sleeve on1930
bust1940
pop1960
vamp1970
1724 Daily Jrnl. 16 Nov. 1/2 I'd rather you send it by half, If the Harman [= constable] should touch you he'd nail ye.
1735 Select Trials II. 482/2 He told me himself, that Peter was naild in his company.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang 123 The man is nailed who is laid hands upon.
1865 Punch May 5 The prisoner said he had been nailed by the crushers.
1889 D. C. Murray & H. Murray Dangerous Catspaw 245 We shall have to wait and nail them, sir, when we've proved complicity.
1918 H. C. Witwer From Baseball to Boches ix. 363 If you get nailed we'll give your wife a cut of our winnin's!
1969 C. F. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 29 The cops..nail Ben for havin' the cup.
1990 Sun 31 Jan. 2/1 Life can be hazardous for federal prosecutor Caroline Palmer who specialises in nailing Chinese heroin-smuggling gangs in Manhattan.
b. transitive. To secure, get hold of, take possession of, acquire for oneself. Also: to pin down, make sure of (a person) (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > succeed in obtaining
eschevec1525
reacha1571
nail1735
pot1856
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > catching or capture > catch or capture [verb (transitive)]
i-lecchec1000
fang1016
hentOE
takeOE
alatchlOE
catchc1275
wina1300
to take ina1387
attain1393
geta1400
overhent?a1400
restay?a1400
seizea1400
tachec1400
arrest1481
carrya1500
collara1535
snap1568
overgo1581
surprise1592
nibble1608
incaptivate1611
nicka1640
cop1704
chop1726
nail1735
to give a person the foot1767
capture1796
hooka1800
sniba1801
net1803
nib1819
prehend1831
corral1860
rope1877
1735 Select Trials II. 484 Nail, is..in general, to take Possession of any Thing, or to make it safe and secure.
1760 S. Foote Minor ii. 73 Some bidders are shy, and only advance with a nod; but I nail them.
1791 J. Bentham Panopticon 55 Supposing no sage regulations made by any body to nail them to this or that sort of work.
1805 European Mag. 47 355 I had learnt..to plume myself upon nailing a job.
1821 ‘B. Truck’ Man-of-war's-man I. 54 Here's to the Tottumfog and a' that's in her. May she soon nail a prize or twa.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Brighton in 1847 i, in Punch 13 153/1 [He] insisted on nailing me for dinner before he would leave me.
1903 ‘C. E. Merriman’ Lett. 159 I was nailing an order for 200 pails with Lige Higgenbotham.
1976 A. Nickolds & S. Hey ‘Foul’ Bk. Football i. 29/2 All the Press was really after once again was the chance to nail a story and sell more copies, regardless of the harm done to the individual.
1993 Spy (N.Y.) Apr. 49/1 Yatter flew an associate to Aberdeen to meet Schweitzer in a hotel room and nail the rights.
c. transitive. colloquial. To rob, cheat, get the better of (a person). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > treat fraudulently, cheat [verb (transitive)] > outwit, get the better of
undergoa1325
circumvene1526
crossbitec1555
circumvent1564
gleek1577
outreach1579
fob1583
overreach1594
fub1600
encompassa1616
out-craftya1616
out-knave1648
mump1649
jockey1708
come1721
nail1735
slew1813
Jew1825
to sew up1837
to play (it) low down (on)1864
outfox1872
beat1873
outcraft1879
to get a beat on1889
old soldier1892
to put one over1905
to get one over on1912
to get one over1921
outsmart1926
shaft1959
1735 Select Trials II. 484/2 He took me to Covent Garden, where we naild a Dose. [Note] Rob'd a Man asleep.
?1747 Humours Flashy Boys in Life & Char. Moll King 12 You must tip me your Clout before I derrick, for my Bloss has nailed me of mine.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 190 Nail, to nail a person is to over-reach or take advantage of him in the course of trade or traffic.
1819 Sporting Mag. 4 209 He would undertake to ‘blind’, or ‘nail’ any keeper in the kingdom.
1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 105 He bowt a stag at Brough Hill an' gat sowenly nailt wi' 't.
1910 N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 21 Jan. 16 He charged us only one buck for doing more than that U.S. guy nailed us four dollars for.
d. transitive. To catch (a person) in some fix or difficulty; to put on the spot; to face with the consequences of an action or activity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > snare, trap, entanglement > entrap, ensnare [verb (transitive)]
shrenchc897
beswike971
betrapa1000
bewindOE
undernimc1175
undertakec1175
bisayc1200
beguile?c1225
catchc1225
beginc1250
biwilea1275
tele?a1300
enginec1300
lime13..
umwrithea1340
engrin1340
oblige1340
belimec1350
enlacec1374
girnc1375
encumber138.
gnarec1380
enwrap1382
briguea1387
snarl1387
upbroid1387
trap1390
entrikea1393
englue1393
gildera1400
aguilec1400
betraisec1400
embrygec1400
snare1401
lacea1425
maska1425
begluec1430
marl1440
supprise?c1450
to prey ona1500
attrap1524
circumvene1526
entangle1526
tangle1526
entrap1531
mesh1532
embrake1542
crawl1548
illaqueate1548
intricate1548
inveigle1551
circumvent1553
felter1567
besnare1571
in trick1572
ensnare1576
overcatch1577
underfong1579
salt1580
entoil1581
comprehend1584
windlassa1586
folda1592
solicit1592
toil1592
bait1600
beset1600
engage1603
benet1604
imbrier1605
ambush1611
inknot1611
enmesha1616
trammela1616
fool1620
pinion1621
aucupate1630
fang1637
surprise1642
underreacha1652
trepan1656
ensnarl1658
stalk1659
irretiate1660
coil1748
nail1766
net1803
to rope in1840
mousetrap1870
spider1891
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > detect > detect (a person) in wrongdoing or predicament
finda1200
overtakea1325
takec1330
oftakea1382
overgoa1400
deprehenda1535
reprehend1538
to find out1545
surprise?1592
nail1766
pawl1859
bust1960
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xii. 112 When they came to talk of places in town, you saw at once how I nailed them.
1810 J. Creevey in H. Maxwell Creevey Papers (1904) I. vi. 125 So now the Ministers are nail'd.
1845 Ld. Campbell Lives Chancellors III. xcv. 462 The King and all the councillors were much tickled to see the wily Chief Justice thus nailed.
1994 Times 19 Aug. 22/1 While the tobacco companies built up huge profits, taxpayers in Minnesota got nailed for the tremendous healthcare costs of patients suffering from smoking-related illnesses.
e. transitive. slang. To steal. Occasionally intransitive. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)]
pick?c1300
takec1300
fetch1377
bribec1405
usurpc1412
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
embezzle1495
lifta1529
pilfer1532
suffurate1542
convey?1545
mill1567
prig1567
strike1567
lag1573
shave1585
knave1601
twitch1607
cly1610
asport1621
pinch1632
snapa1639
nap1665
panyar1681
to carry off1684
to pick up1687
thievea1695
to gipsy away1696
bone1699
make1699
win1699
magg1762
snatch1766
to make off with1768
snavel1795
feck1809
shake1811
nail1819
geach1821
pull1821
to run off1821
smug1825
nick1826
abduct1831
swag1846
nobble1855
reef1859
snig1862
find1865
to pull off1865
cop1879
jump1879
slock1888
swipe1889
snag1895
rip1904
snitch1904
pole1906
glom1907
boost1912
hot-stuff1914
score1914
clifty1918
to knock off1919
snoop1924
heist1930
hoist1931
rabbit1943
to rip off1967
to have off1974
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) I nail'd the swell's montra in the push.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 405/1 They used to go out nailing—that's thieving.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island i. iii. 21 Lubbers as..want to nail what is another's.
1920 in B. DeBeck Barney Google (c1977) 79 That barber shop was where I nailed this swell hat.
1958 in J. E. Lighter Hist. Dict. Amer. Slang (1997) II. 635/1 [It] doesn't give you cause to come in and nail my inventory.
f. transitive. U.S. slang. To board (a train) illegally; to steal a ride on (a train); frequently in to nail a rattler. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1907 J. London Road v. 99 We..tried to ‘nail’ the same freight. But he was ditched, and I rode her out alone.
1929 L. Thomas Woodfill of Regulars 65 So I nailed a rattler..and joined up for my second hitch.
1960 P. Oliver Blues fell this Morning (1961) ii. 66 There is no room for mistakes;..the loss of a limb is the least penalty for failing to ‘nail a rattler’ successfully the first time.
6. To strike; to put out; to beat; to accomplish successfully.
a. transitive. To shoot or strike with a missile; to kill, to destroy.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > assail with missiles [verb (transitive)] > of missile: hit > hit with missile
warpc888
shootc893
shoot1297
strike1377
nail1787
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xxx, in Poems & Songs (1968) I. 84 I'll nail the self-conceited Sot, As dead's a herrin.
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 356 We say when we see a hare shot, that she's nail'd.
1886 E. Dowden Life Shelley I. i. 24 To surround ‘Mad Shelley’ and ‘nail’ him with a ball..was a favourite pastime.
1892 F. P. Dunne in Chicago Sunday Post 11 Dec. 9 McKenna never had fear of mortal man nailing him with a bomb.
1918 J. M. Grider Diary 8 Aug. in War Birds (1926) 241 One of these new Fokkers came over after a balloon and A Flight nailed him.
1962 T. F. Jones Stairway to Sea in 3×3 51 Here he has it made with this dish Ophelia, and all he's thinking about is who nailed his old man.
1989 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 Apr. 7/7 If it [sc. the asteroid] had appeared only a few hours earlier it would have nailed us.
b. transitive. Chiefly Sport (esp. Boxing). To succeed in hitting, esp. with a punch or blow; to strike forcefully. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > succeed in striking
hentOE
hitc1275
atreachc1330
reacha1400
attain1477
attaint1523
nail1785
catch1820
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue 240 He offered me a decus, and I nailed him.
1842 Spirit of Times 28 May 152 Broome nailed his man with his left.
1889 J. Nicholson Folk-Speech E. Yorks. 28 Jack Wilson lad brak oor windher wiv a cobble-steean, an Bob did nail him fo't.
1923 J. J. McGraw My Thirty Years in Baseball xxxiv. 181 We all had a hunch that he was going to nail the ball, and sure enough he did. It was a clean line smack to center.
1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 148 He..is in a position to be nailed on the chin.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 15 Dec. (Weekend section) 40 His racket hisses past your face, you snap your head away, and he nails it right in front, right at the juncture of floor and wall, unbeatable angle, killshot.
1995 Atlantic Aug. 67/2 We've got this stock of older housing in the floodplain that gets repeatedly damaged... Texas, for example, got nailed again last fall.
c. transitive. Baseball. Of a fielder: to put (a runner) out; (hence more generally) to beat (a runner). Also (in American Football): to tackle or bring down (an opponent).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (transitive)] > actions to players
tackle1884
nail1888
block1889
quarterback1892
rough1904
rush1913
to fake out1931
straight-arm1934
submarine1941
red-dog1950
clothesline1959
spear1964
sack1969
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > play baseball [verb (transitive)] > put out > a runner
peg1862
nip1868
to throw out1876
nail1888
to pick off1888
tag1907
1888 Press (N.Y.) 18 Apr. 4/1 He nailed every man who tried to steal a base.
1889 Cincinnati Times-Star 26 Feb. 2/1 ‘Nic's’ throw in was perfect and he was ‘nailed’ at the plate by Keenan.
1908 N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 20 Aug. 12/2 Donlin was pushed on home by McGraw, but it was too big an effort and he was nailed at the plate by a nose.
1928 L. F. Woodruff Hist. Southern Football I. 57 Watson eased through the line and nailed him for no gain and it was again Georgia's ball.
1974 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 13 Oct. c6/2 Quarterback Tom Clements was nailed for no gain on a rollout.
1987 Touchdown Feb. 24/3 Banks led the club in tackles and has a knack of nailing the opposing runner in the backfield.
d. transitive. Originally Sport. To execute or accomplish (something difficult) perfectly or with great accuracy; frequently in to nail it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > make a success of [verb (transitive)] > succeed in or achieve a purpose
reacheOE
awinc1000
attain1393
speedc1400
comprehenda1450
escheve1489
to make out1535
consecute1536
compass1549
achievea1569
aspire1581
obtain1589
subdue1590
to go a long (also great, short, etc.) way1624
arrivea1657
kill1899
nail1981
1981 R. Lewis Seek for Justice ii. 53 The first dart flicked into the treble twenty. It was followed by a second... Can he nail a third treble?
1999 Gym Stars Sept.–Nov. 11/2 She nailed everything, including a flick to two-foot layout.
2002 GQ Apr. 144/2 When she came in to audition for the part, she nailed it.
2006 K. A. Hoeffner All you've Got 197 ‘Great set’, Lauren said... ‘You nailed it, girlfriend,’ Gabby said. Grinning, they knuckle-hit each other.
2011 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 7 Nov. Winehouse..was more relaxed and smiling by that time because she knew she had already nailed the song.
7. To pin down, define (something immaterial).
a. transitive. To clinch, prove.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > prove, demonstrate [verb (transitive)] > conclusively
clint1575
stick1611
clenchc1677
clincha1714
nail1787
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook i, in Poems (new ed.) 55 Ev'n Ministers they hae been kenn'd..Great lies and nonsense baith to vend, And nail't wi' Scripture.
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xxxiv. 223 She [sc. a gossip] nailed the matter..by whispering with mysterious meaning..‘I have myself seen a light there after eleven o'clock at night!’
1869 A. Macdonald Love, Law & Theol. iii Ye sud see the laid as sune's ye can, and nail the pargain.
1902 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Feb. 431/2 Nailing an alibi where it can't be budged.
1993 Country Aug.–Sept. 32/3 ‘We heard you on the radio and that's why we're here.’ Well, that nailed it for me!
b. transitive. To get the measure of, to master, to understand; to depict accurately, frequently in a critical way.
ΚΠ
1925 H. Leverage Dict. Underworld in Flynn's 28 Feb. 1151/2 Nail, to comprehend; to conceive; to discover.
1934 M. McLuhan Let. 20 Oct. (1987) 29 Good to hear of you reading Pepys Red... Don't be too sure that you have ‘nailed him’.
1955 P. Larkin Let. 28 May in Sel. Lett. (1992) 241 Much of it seems so ‘literary’ in inspiration..and this leads to the drawbacks you nail on p. 5.
1992 N.Y. Times 18 Oct. ii. 29/1 For the next hour or so Mr. Richards will try to nail the first two verses.
8. transitive. U.S. slang. Of a man: to have sexual intercourse with. Cf. screw v. 7a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > engage in sexual activity with [verb (transitive)] > have sexual intercourse with > specifically of a man
jape1382
overliec1400
swivec1405
foilc1440
overlay?a1475
bed1548
possess1592
knock1598
to get one's leg over1599
enjoy1602
poke1602
thrum1611
topa1616
riga1625
swingea1640
jerk1650
night-work1654
wimble1656
roger1699
ruta1706
tail1778
to touch up1785
to get into ——c1890
root1922
to knock up1934
lay1934
pump1937
prong1942
nail1948
to slip (someone) a length1949
to knock off1953
thread1958
stuff1960
tup1970
nut1971
pussy1973
service1973
1948 N. Cassady Let. 16 June (2005) 77 She..spreads legs to impossible split, asked to be tied down & raped, nailed, ripped, eaten, bitten.
1957 in G. Legman More Limericks (1980) 3 He had to turn sideways to nail her.
1979 R. Grossbach Never say Die viii. 80 Who would you rather marry, then—the publishing cupcake in the Florsheims who nailed you on the couch and then fired you?
1996 Esquire Jan. 62 Everyone knows that JFK was nailing her for years.
Phrases
P1. to nail one's colours (also flag) to the mast (also masthead) and variants: to declare one's opinions or beliefs openly; to stick to or be committed to a plan, opinion, policy, etc. [Apparently originally with allusion to a real practice of nailing a flag or ensign to the mast of a ship, after damage during battle has resulted in the ship's colours no longer being clearly displayed, which might otherwise be interpreted as a signal of surrender. Compare quot. 1800, and see also Mariner's Mirror 72 (1986) 212–3 for an account of an incident which apparently occurred during the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 and which was celebrated in a lithograph later in the same year.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > constancy or steadfastness > be constant or steadfast [verb (intransitive)]
standeOE
cleavec1275
to stand stiffa1290
stick1447
to stand or stick to one's tackling1529
to stand in this1538
to set down (the or one's) staff1584
to stand one's ground1600
to stand to one's pan pudding1647
to maintain one's ground1736
to nail one's colours (also flag) to the mast (also masthead)1808
to stay put1843
to stand firm1856
to sit tight1890
to keep the flag flying1914
to dig in one's toes1933
to hold the line1956
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or reveal [verb (transitive)] > thoughts or feelings
unbuttonc1325
unbreast1559
unbosom1598
unbowel1649
eccentricate1708
to nail one's colours (also flag) to the mast (also masthead)1808
disbosom1868
unzip1939
uncap1980
1800 in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1845) IV. 219 (note) Half past 6, shot away the main and mizen-masts: saw a man nail the French ensign to the stump of the mizen-mast.]
1808 W. Scott Marmion i. Introd. 11 Record, that Fox a Briton died!..Stood for his country's glory fast, And nailed her colours to the mast.
1844 Sir R. Peel in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxiii. 15 I never heard him make a speech in the course of which he did not nail, unnail, renail, and unnail again his colours.
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Nov. 11/1 He hastened..to nail his colours to the compromise of 1870.
1898 G. B. Shaw Let. 5 Jan. (1972) II. 7 He..does not deny his faiths, and will nail his atheism & socialism to the masthead incorruptibly enough.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. iv. 58 To nail some elaborate blue-print of international organization to our masthead.
1989 Great Outdoors Sept. 27/1 The prince neatly side-stepped nailing his colours to the mast in the national parks debate.
P2. to nail (a fact, information, etc.) to the counter [in allusion to a former practice among shopkeepers of treating counterfeit coins in this way.] : to expose as false or spurious.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > confound, confute [phrase]
bray1535
to beat the nail back1581
to nail (a fact, information, etc.) to the counter1842
to nail a lie (also charge, etc.)1843
to sew up one's stocking1859
to knock galley-west1875
to knock the bottom out of1875
to shoot down in flames1943
1839 Spirit of Times 8 June 157/2 A train of circumstantial evidence..by which to nail the author of the libel to the counter of the ‘Mirror’.]
1842 O. W. Holmes Med. Ess. in Wks. (1891) IX. 67 A few familiar facts..have been suffered to pass current so long that it is time they should be nailed to the counter.
1890 Spectator 9 Aug. 178/1 It was a good deed to nail all this to the counter.
1929 Pacific Affairs 2 212 The China Weekly Review..published a very subtle untruth, which it is important to nail to the counter at once.
1999 Independent (Nexis) 18 Nov. It was again the amazing power of eloquence, which helped the ‘rebel’ to nail to the counter and quash the canard effectively.
P3. to nail a lie (also charge, etc.) [probably < to nail to the counter at Phrases 2.] : to expose or reveal the falsehood of (an allegation, assertion, etc.), esp. to prevent further dissemination; to dispel, disprove. Also with down.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > confound, confute [phrase]
bray1535
to beat the nail back1581
to nail (a fact, information, etc.) to the counter1842
to nail a lie (also charge, etc.)1843
to sew up one's stocking1859
to knock galley-west1875
to knock the bottom out of1875
to shoot down in flames1943
1843 N. Amer. Rev. July 20 We do not stop to nail down this malignant libel, but refer to it in connection with another matter.
1872 Galaxy Mar. 429/2 How is it..that the ‘Tribune’ always ‘nails so many lies’?
1915 E. Pound Let. 1 Dec. (1971) 66 I think however that the charge of my being jealous of Frost ought to be nailed.
1997 P. Porter Dragons in their Pleasant Palaces 52 Nailing the lie Of transcendence.
P4. to nail to the barn door [in allusion to the exhibiting of dead vermin as a deterrent.] : to reveal the true nature of; to expose and punish. Also (chiefly U.S.): to nail (up) a person's hide (to the wall) and variants.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > accusation, charge > make accusation [phrase]
to bear (a person or thing) in (also an, a, on) handc1300
to lay the blame on1393
to give the wrong to?1473
to lay in (his) neckc1515
to cast (any one) in the teeth1526
to cast (a thing) in one's teeth1526
to lay to (also cast in) a person's nose1526
to dash one in the teeth with (something)1530
call to or in coram1542
to cast (also lay, throw) (something) in one's dish1551
to throw (cast) a stone or stones (at)1568
to cast up1604
to nail to the barn door1894
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess ii. 33 Take my life, And nail me like a weasel on a grange For warning.]
1894 Notes & Queries 17 Feb. 130/2 There are two other uses of the word level which should be nailed to ‘N. & Q.'s’ barn door.
1937 ‘L. Short’ Brand of Empire (1940) ix. 115 Somebody is going to nail up his hide, Chris, and it won't be nice to see.
1943 A. M. Lindbergh Diary 22 July in War within & Without (1980) 378 The kind of woman who nails a man to a barn door, and not from cruelty—from fear, from insecurity, from wanting to possess, to have something to show.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Mar. 18/6 When he went to Hollywood,..he nailed up their movieland hides in Lost in the Horse Latitudes, his best selling book.
1993 P. Muldoon Shining Brow 40 For the sake of a column inch that might nail him to the door, how long must we endure this?
P5. U.S. slang. to nail (a person) to the cross: to take forceful or decisive action against (a person); to convict, punish, or reprimand (a person).
ΚΠ
1900 H. Garland Eagle's Heart xv. 241 I was politely ordering him out of town when he pulled his gun and nailed me to the cross.
1927 D. Hammett $106,000 Blood Money in Big Knockover (1966) 321 So much for the arrest. Now for the conviction part. If you get him, are you sure you can nail him to the cross?
1999 Boston Herald (Nexis) 12 Sept. b8 Terry Collins resigned as manager and many of those who had tried to nail him to the cross all season wound up like Pontius Pilate, washing their hands of any wrong doing.
P6. U.S. slang. to nail (a person) to the mast = to nail (a person) to the cross at Phrases 5.
ΚΠ
1928 L. H. Nason Sergeant of Cavalry in Top Kick 42 Gee, they nailed young Bottle to the mast all right!.. He stopped about six bullets.
1959 A. Drury Advise & Consent v. 244 You tell 'em Bob... Nail the bastard to the mast.
1998 San Francisco Examiner (Nexis) 19 Apr. c11 We are slapping him on the wrist with a compliment in an effort to nail him to the mast.
Phrasal verbs
With adverbs in specialized senses. to nail up † 3. transitive. Military = sense 2d. Obsolete. to nail down † 4. intransitive. To commit oneself to an engagement. Obsolete. rare.
1. transitive. To fasten, to close up firmly or fix shut with or as with nails; (also) to incarcerate (a person) in this way (rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > by nailing or screwing
enclowc1430
to nail up1530
to screw up1761
to screw down1762
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 643/1 You muste seke some other waye, for this doore is nayled up.
1604 T. Middleton Blacke Bk. Moral That heauen is..made so fast, naylde vp with many a Starre.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 12 Take heede of a doore or window..of any other mans into your Orchard: yea, though it be nailed vp.
1697 London Gaz. No. 3334/4 The Box nail'd up and Directed to Mrs. Ann Perriot.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 110. ¶5 The Door of one of his Chambers was nailed up.
1768 J. Cremer Jrnl. 18 July in R. R. Bellamy Ramblin' Jack (1936) 143 The old man wanted me to goe to bed; but I would not till I had nailed up the fore-Castle-head door.
1835 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz (1836) 1st Ser. II. 26 The old dog had nailed me up so securely, that..no one but a carpenter could ever have got me out.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxvii. 199 The hotel..was nailed up and forsaken.
1911 G. K. Chesterton Innocence of Father Brown vi. 149 The gardener, groom and cook had added to his many professions that of an undertaker, and had nailed up his noble master in a coffin.
1960 C. Achebe in Girls at War (1972) 37 He would not hear; his ears had been nailed up.
1993 M. Roberts Daughters of House 67 The day after he'd nailed up the door of the lavatory in the yard she used the indoor one straight after him.
1996 A. Baraka Funk Lore 25 We'll nail up your mouth if you try to sing.
2. transitive. To fasten up or fix at a height on a wall, etc., by means of nails.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with nails
nailOE
clencha1250
clinkc1440
rivetc1450
cloyc1460
clowa1522
to nail up1532
clinch1570
clint1575
inclavate1666
to nail down1669
1532 in Lett. & Papers Henry VIII (1965) V. 448 Pyne nails and English tacketts for nailing up the said buds and leaves.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 192 Who, if he have sacrificed an Oxe, useth to naile up the head and hornes at his gate.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 285 Weatherboarding..is us'd to signifie the Boards themselves, when nail'd up.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 4 Nailing up some Valens to the Windows in the Dining-room.
1782 G. White Jrnl. 5 June (1970) xv. 205 My Bror Thomas White nailed-up several large 'scallop shells under the eaves..to see if the house-martins would build in them.
1867 S. Smiles Huguenots Eng. & Ireland iv. 83 This document was found nailed up on the Bishop of London's door.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. v. vi. 174 He had spent the time in..nailing up creepers.
1941 V. Woolf Between Acts 35 The village idiot, who always tore down what had been nailed up.
1987 M. Collins Angel iii. 35 Help me nail up some board across de window!
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > putting weapons or equipment out of action > put weapons or equipment out of action [verb (transitive)] > silence a gun > by spiking
clowa1522
peg1551
to nail up1562
cloy1577
nail1598
spick1623
spike1644
wedge1680
spike1687
1562 P. Whitehorne Certain Waies Orderyng Souldiers f. 34, in tr. N. Machiavelli Arte of Warre Ye touche holes of the artillerie to be nayled vp.
1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Compl. Hist. Warrs Flanders 385 Coming to their Batteries, they unhorst some of their Peeces, they nail'd up some others.
1690 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 37 They had also..burnt the town, took the fort and nailed up the guns.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 294 He ordered to nail up such of the Cannon as could be fought.
1763 L. Scrafton Refl. Govt. Indostan 69 The plan of operations was..to nail up the cannon, and push at the head quarters.
1781 Encycl. Brit. at Nailing Vimercalus..made use of his invention first in nailing up the artillery of Sigismund Malatesta.
1. transitive. To fix or fasten (a thing, esp. a lid) to something with or as with nails; to attach securely. Cf. sense 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with nails
nailOE
clencha1250
clinkc1440
rivetc1450
cloyc1460
clowa1522
to nail up1532
clinch1570
clint1575
inclavate1666
to nail down1669
1586 Accts. Treasurer Scotl. f. 59 Raw silk to naill doun the covering.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 64 They nail down Quoyners to the Fore-Trucks of heavy Guns.
1679 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ix. 156 Nail it firmly down with two Brads into every Joyst.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser at Lead This Mold..consists of..Boards..nail'd down fast, and upon these, at a due distance..the Sharps are fixed.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §99 He was going to see the covers of the Hatches of forty of the fish ships..nailed down.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple III. vii. 95 The trunks which had been left open were nailed down.
1879 Notes Building Constr. III. 441 Dog nails..are used for nailing down heavy ironwork.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 993/2 The top-pieces, similar to the outsoles, are put on and nailed down to the lifts.
1992 M. Riva Marlene Dietrich 41 Hollywood kleptomania, the keeping for oneself anything and everything that is not nailed down during the making of a film, was still many years off.
2. transitive. To confine or fix to a place or position; to commit (a person) to an opinion, course of action, etc.; to ensure, to make certain of. Cf. sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > undertake [verb (transitive)] > commit to a course of action
to nail down1707
commit1782
1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility iii. 104 Our bodies are as much nailed down to the earth by their own weight [etc.].
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 58 Wherefore has not gravity nailed them down to the surface of the Earth?
1845 R. Wodrow tr. Z. Boyd in Coll. Lives Reformers II. 130 The gentlemen of Saumur have at last nailed me down to them, and resolved..that I shall..be their property.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad II. i. 122 Johnson nailed himself down to the hexameter and pentameter.
1893 G. Allen Scallywag I. i. 3 Isabel meant..to nail her down at once to the matter in hand.
1944 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 25 May 4/3 To nail the vastly strewn Nazi forces down even more firmly where they were, we bombed all railroad lines up the Italian boot.
1969 C. Ives Ess. Before Sonata i. iii. 41 A novel, of necessity, nails an art-effort down to some definite part or parts of the earth's surface; the novelist's wagon can't always be hitched to a star.
1990 Guardian 25 Sept. 8/2 The White House missed the chance of nailing down congressional endorsement of its policies.
3. transitive. To fix or establish (an idea, a fact, a detail, etc.) precisely or permanently.
ΚΠ
1845 T. De Quincey Notes on Gilfillan's Gallery Lit. Portraits in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 756/2 How it was wrong, might require an impracticable investigation..: but that it was wrong, he nailed down as a point of faith.
1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas II. 138 To force we never Will yield the suppliant sisters; thus the people With one acclaim have voted; 'tis nailed down Thus to the letter.
1912 W. James Ess. Radical Empiricism ii. 68 The immensely greater part of all our knowing never gets beyond this virtual stage. It never is completed or nailed down.
1948 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 16 Jan. 1/4 The program committee met last night to nail down final details for the big birthday party.
1994 Amer. Spectator Aug. 71/1 After reading Victory, I wasn't sure if Reagan's role was marginal or major. No doubt later, fuller accounts of the triumph over Soviet Communism will nail that down.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > promise > promise, vow, or pledge [verb (intransitive)]
queatheOE
sweara900
fangc1175
behightc1275
to make (hold, pay, keep, yield or break) a vowc1290
vowa1325
avowc1400
to plight (one's) faithc1410
promitc1422
promise1447
creance1477
to take in vow1526
votec1540
depose1610
vum1785
to nail down1859
pledge1928
society > authority > subjection > obedience > compulsion > compel [verb (transitive)] > to perform or adhere to
hold971
tiec1200
exact1564
enforce1647
confine1651
straiten1652
to tie down1692
to nail down1859
1859 H. W. Longfellow Let. 13 June (1972) IV. xiii. 135 George comes on Wednesdays; but..I cannot nail down to that day.
5. transitive. To acquire or secure (a contract, an opportunity, etc.).
ΚΠ
1967 Amer. Econ. Rev. 57 169 Political rigidity makes it..impossible for one water jurisduction to sell title or rights to another—hence an incentive to rush into construction to nail down the supplies involved.
1972 Business Week 18 Mar. 15/1 Industrial equipment makers..appear more likely to have nailed down new orders.
1994 City Paper (Baltimore) 29 June 11/1 He's nailed down a $75,000 one-year contract as a host on NBC's America Talking (A-T) network, launched by NBC.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.eOE
v.OE