a slender, typically rod-shaped rigid piece of metal, usually in any of numerous standard lengths from a fraction of an inch to several inches and having one end pointed and the other enlarged and flattened, for hammering into or through wood, other building materials, etc., as used in building, in fastening, or in holding separate pieces together.
a thin, horny plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe.
a former measure of length for cloth, equal to 2.25 inches (5.7 centimeters).
verb (used with object)
to fasten with a nail or nails: to nail the cover on a box.
to enclose or confine (something) by nailing (often followed by up): to nail up oranges in a crate.
to make fast or keep firmly in one place or position: Surprise nailed him to the spot.
to accomplish perfectly: the only gymnast to nail the dismount.
Informal.
to secure by prompt action; catch or seize: The police nailed him with the goods.
to catch (a person) in some difficulty, lie, etc.
to detect and expose (a lie, scandal, etc.).
Slang. to hit (a person): He nailed him on the chin with an uppercut in the first round.
to focus intently on an object or subject: She kept her eyes nailed on the suspicious customer.
Obsolete. to stud with or as if with nails.
Verb Phrases
nail down,to make final; settle once and for all: Signing the contract will nail down our agreement.
Idioms for nail
hit the nail on the head, to say or do exactly the right thing; be accurate or correct: Your analysis really hit the nail on the head.
nail in someone's / something's coffin, something that hastens the demise or failure of a person or thing: Every moment's delay is another nail in his coffin.
on the nail, Informal.
of present interest; under discussion.
without delay; on the spot; at once: He was offered a job on the nail.
Origin of nail
First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun) nail, nayl, Old English nægl, cognate with Old Frisian neil, Old Saxon, Old High German nagal, Dutch nagel, German Nagel, Old Norse nagl “fingernail,” all from unattested Germanic naglaz; akin as derivative to Lithuanian nãgas, nagà “hoof,” Old Prussian nage “foot,” Old Church Slavonic noga “leg, foot” (Serbo-Croatian nòga, Czech noha, Polish noga, Russian nogá; probably originally a jocular reference to the foot as a hoof), Old Church Slavonic nogŭtĭ, Tocharian A maku, Tocharian B mekwa “fingernail, claw,” all from unattested North European Indo-European ənogwh-; further akin to Old Irish ingen, Welsh ewin, Breton ivin, from unattested Celtic ṇgwhīnā,Latin unguis, from unattested Italo-Celtic əngwhi-;Greek ónyx, stem onych-, Sanskrit áṅghri- “foot” from unattested áṅghli-; Armenian ełungn, from unattested onogwh-;Middle English (verb) nail(e), nayle, Old English næglian, cognate with Old Saxon neglian, Old High German negilen, Old Norse negla, from unattested Germanic nagl-janan; compare Gothic ganagljan
SYNONYMS FOR nail
5 fix, secure, pin, fasten.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR nail ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM nail
nailless,adjectivenaillike,adjectivere·nail,verb (used with object)
Words nearby nail
NAI, naiad, NAIC, Naida, naïf, nail, nail bar, nail bed, nail-biter, nail-biting, nail bomb
This attributes to those awful side effects including hair loss, darkening of finger nails, etc.
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Her red lip and nail combination really helped me get into character-it was classic old Hollywood glam.
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Chicago dentist Maxwell Lappe had created an artificial fingernail for nail biters called Nu Nails in 1934.
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Air- and heat-activated polish sealant as well as UV-cured gels, standard tools in the nail professional’s arsenal, also owe their origins to this former dentist.
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Here we are 10 years later, and they have not even gotten to all of them, and the ones they have gotten to, the industry has fought tooth and nail.
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MOSCOW—Every now and then I run into Anna Chapman at a nail salon called “Little Fingers” on Potapovsky Avenue in downtown Moscow.
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Along the way, he accidentally embeds a nail in his foot, which is not symbolic at all.
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The phrase means, “the nail that sticks out always gets hit by a hammer.”
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Not enough that Democrats can win Arkansas, God knows, but maybe enough that they can nail down North Carolina again.