nail
/neɪl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms nails nailing nailed Naill
- noun The horny plate or appendage at the ends of the digits of various animals, including most reptiles, birds, and mammals (both nonhuman and human).
- noun (often specifically) The thin, flat type of such a plate on the fingers and toes of humans, chimpanzees and some other primates. “When I'm nervous I bite my nails.”
- noun The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
- noun The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks and other allied birds.
- noun A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction. “Yesterday my shirt got torn after I caught it on a nail.”
- noun A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
- noun An archaic English unit of length equivalent to ¹⁄₂₀ of an ell or ¹⁄₁₆ of a yard (2+¹⁄₄ inches or 5.715 cm).
- verb (transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail. “He nailed the placard to the post.”
- verb (intransitive) To drive a nail. “He used the ax head for nailing.”
- verb (transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
- verb (slang) To catch.
- verb (transitive, slang) To expose as a sham.
- verb (transitive, slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully. “I really nailed that test.”
- verb (transitive, slang) To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
- verb (transitive, vulgar, slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname.
Synonyms
onychium unguis hammer arrest collar nick apprehend begripe capture fang grasp get gripe lay hold of rape seize take take hold ace fullbring pick up nab cop smash boom blast nail down peg breeze through pass with flying colors
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”).
Compare North Frisian Nail (“nail”), Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian neil, German and Low German Nagel, Dutch and Swedish nagel, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål negl, Norwegian Nynorsk nagl, Finnish naula (“nail”), Estonian nael (“nail”), (compare Irish ionga, Latin unguis, Albanian nyell (“ankle, hard part of a limb”), Lithuanian nagas, Russian нога́ (nogá, “foot, leg”), но́готь (nógotʹ, “nail”), Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux), Persian ناخن (nâxon), Sanskrit नख (nakhá).
From Middle English naylen, from Old English næġlan.
From nail, hence a metonymic occupational surname for a maker of nails, or a nickname for a tall and slender person.
Webster’s 1913
- noun the horny scale of plate of epidermis at the end of the fingers and toes of man and many apes.
- noun (a) The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
- verb To fasten with a nail or nails; to close up or secure by means of nails; as, to nail boards to the beams.
- verb To stud or boss with nails, or as with nails.
Etymology [AS. næglian. See Nail, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nail”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details