nail-bitern.
/ˈneɪlˌbʌɪtə/, U.S. /ˈneɪlˌbaɪdər/ 1. A person who bites his or her nails, esp. habitually. Hence in extended use: a person who worries, a nervous person (cf. to bite one's nails at nail n. Phrases 2d).
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1857 Med. Independent Feb. 319 Few sights are more disgusting than the fingers of a nail-biter of long standing.
1886 St. Joseph (Mich.) Herald 12 June 1/5 The fingertips present a spongy, shapeless appearance that is enough to..make the nail-biter an object of contempt forever.
1893 Daily News 5 July 5/5 Eleven..were confirmed nail-biters.
1941 Genetic Psychol. Monogr. 24 211 In spite of the nail-biters' apparent conformity they are non-conformists.
1979 Washington Post 22 July c4/6 Deplorable paraphrases of Cook's vigorous journal with passages of his own poor invention that only suggest a fretful nail-biter.
1995 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 3 Aug. c8 It's music for nail-biters anonymous, full of high-strung punk, screech and distortion.
2. A suspenseful event, situation, etc.; spec. a close sporting contest.
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1950 Charleston (W. Virginia) Daily Mail 1 Mar. 14/1 A crowd of less than 1,000 saw the nail-biter.
1957 N.Y. Times 1 Nov. 31/1 (advt.) A chase story—a real nail-biter!
1971 Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dict. (1993) Lost a tough, 14-inning nail-biter.
1983 L. Barber in Sunday Express Mag. 21 Aug. 17/2 Opening the tickets was a real nailbiter.
1991 Athlon's Pro Football 122/2 They lost a one-point nail-biter to the Giants.
2001 Premiere Mar. 24/1 Cohen's high-concept script is a nail-biter, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1857