Adjacent Words

Nail definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NAIL, n. If the word was originally applied to a claw or talon, the primary sense may be to catch, or it may be a shoot.
1. The claw or talon of a fowl or other animal.
2. The horny substance growing at the end of the human fingers and toes.
3. A small pointed piece of metal, usually with a head, to be driven into a board or other piece of timber, and serving to fasten it to other timber. The larger kinds of instruments of this sort are called spikes; and a long thin kind with a flattish head, is called a brad.
4. A stud or boss; a short nail with a large broad head.
5. A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or the 16th of a yard.
6. On the nail, in hand; immediately; without delay or time of credit; as, to pay money on the nail.
7. To hit the nail on the head, to hit or touch the exact point.
NAIL, v.t.
1. To fasten with nails; to unite, close or make compact with nails.
2. To stud with nails.
3. To stop the vent of a cannon; to spike.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits
2: a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener
3: a former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard v
1: attach something somewhere by means of nails; "nail the board onto the wall"
2: take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals" [syn: collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop]
3: hit hard; "He smashed a 3-run homer" [syn: smash, nail, boom, blast]
4: succeed in obtaining a position; "He nailed down a spot at Harvard" [syn: nail down, nail, peg]
5: succeed at easily; "She sailed through her exams"; "You will pass with flying colors"; "She nailed her astrophysics course" [syn: breeze through, ace, pass with flying colors, sweep through, sail through, nail]
6: locate exactly; "can you pinpoint the position of the enemy?"; "The chemists could not nail the identity of the chromosome" [syn: pinpoint, nail]
7: complete a pass [syn: complete, nail]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English nægl; akin to Old High German nagal nail, fingernail, Latin unguis fingernail, toenail, claw, Greek onyx Date: before 12th century 1. a. a horny sheath protecting the upper end of each finger and toe of humans and most other primates b. a structure (as a claw) that terminates a digit and corresponds to a nail 2. a slender usually pointed and headed fastener designed to be pounded in II. transitive verb Date: before 12th century 1. to fasten with or as if with a nail 2. to fix in steady attention <nailed his eye on the crack> 3. a. catch, trap b. to expose usually so as to discredit <nailed the impostor> c. to arrest or punish for an offense 4. a. strike, hit b. to put out (a runner) in baseball 5. to perform or complete perfectly or impressively <nailed a jump shot> 6. to gain or win decisively — often used with down <nail down their consent> 7. to settle, establish, or represent clearly and unmistakably — often used with down <have nailed down the artist's technique> 8. usually vulgar to copulate with • nailer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a small usu. sharpened metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven in with a hammer to join things together or to serve as a peg, protection (cf. HOBNAIL), or decoration. 2 a a horny covering on the upper surface of the tip of the human finger or toe. b a claw or talon. c a hard growth on the upper mandible of some soft-billed birds. 3 hist. a measure of cloth length (equal to 21/4 inches). --v.tr. 1 fasten with a nail or nails (nailed it to the beam; nailed the planks together). 2 fix or keep (a person, attention, etc.) fixed. 3 a secure, catch, or get hold of (a person or thing). b expose or discover (a lie or a liar). Phrases and idioms: hard as nails 1 callous; unfeeling. 2 in good physical condition. nail-biting causing severe anxiety or tension. nail-brush a small brush for cleaning the nails. nail one's colours to the mast persist; refuse to give in. nail down 1 bind (a person) to a promise etc. 2 define precisely. 3 fasten (a thing) with nails. nail enamel US = nail polish. nail-file a roughened metal or emery strip used for smoothing the nails. nail-head Archit. an ornament like the head of a nail. nail in a person's coffin something thought to increase the risk of death. nail polish a varnish applied to the nails to colour them or make them shiny. nail-punch (or -set) a tool for sinking the head of a nail below a surface. nail-scissors small curved scissors for trimming the nails. nail up 1 close (a door etc.) with nails. 2 fix (a thing) at a height with nails. nail varnish Brit. = nail polish. on the nail (esp. of payment) without delay (cash on the nail). Derivatives: nailed adj. (also in comb.). nailless adj. Etymology: OE nægel, næglan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nail Nail, n. [AS. n[ae]gel, akin to D. nagel, OS ? OHG. nagal, G. nagel, Icel. nagl, nail (in sense 1), nagli nail (in sense 3), Sw. nagel nail (in senses 1 and 3), Dan. nagle, Goth. ganagljan to nail, Lith. nagas nail (in sense 1), Russ. nogote, L. unguis, Gr. ?, Skr. nakha. ?] 1. (Anat.) the horny scale of plate of epidermis at the end of the fingers and toes of man and many apes. His nayles like a briddes claws were. --Chaucer. Note: The nails are strictly homologous with hoofs and claws. When compressed, curved, and pointed, they are called talons or claws, and the animal bearing them is said to be unguiculate; when they incase the extremities of the digits they are called hoofs, and the animal is ungulate. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera. (b) The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds. 3. A slender, pointed piece of metal, usually with a head, used for fastening pieces of wood or other material together, by being driven into or through them. Note: The different sorts of nails are named either from the use to which they are applied, from their shape, from their size, or from some other characteristic, as shingle, floor, ship-carpenters', and horseshoe nails, roseheads, diamonds, fourpenny, tenpenny (see Penny, a.), chiselpointed, cut, wrought, or wire nails, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nail Nail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Nailing.] [AS. n[ae]glian. See Nail, n.] 1. To fasten with a nail or nails; to close up or secure by means of nails; as, to nail boards to the beams. He is now dead, and nailed in his chest. --Chaucer. 2. To stud or boss with nails, or as with nails. The rivets of your arms were nailed with gold. --Dryden. 3. To fasten, as with a nail; to bind or hold, as to a bargain or to acquiescence in an argument or assertion; hence, to catch; to trap. When they came to talk of places in town, you saw at once how I nailed them. --Goldsmith. 4. To spike, as a cannon. [Obs.] --Crabb. To nail a lie or an assertion, etc., to detect and expose it, so as to put a stop to its currency; -- an expression probably derived from the former practice of shopkeepers, who were accustomed to nail bad or counterfeit pieces of money to the counter.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(nails, nailing, nailed) 1. A nail is a thin piece of metal with one pointed end and one flat end. You hit the flat end with a hammer in order to push the nail into something such as a wall. A mirror hung on a nail above the washstand... N-COUNT 2. If you nail something somewhere, you fix it there using one or more nails. Frank put the first plank down and nailed it in place... They nail shut the front door... VERB: V n prep/adv, V n with adj 3. Your nails are the thin hard parts that grow at the ends of your fingers and toes. Keep your nails short and your hands clean. N-COUNT: usu poss N in pl 4. To nail someone means to catch them and prove that they have been breaking the law. (INFORMAL) The prosecution still managed to nail him for robberies at the homes of leading industrialists. VERB: V n 5. If you say that someone is as hard as nails, you mean that they are extremely tough and aggressive, either physically or in their attitude towards other people or other situations. He's a shrewd businessman and hard as nails... PHRASE: v-link PHR 6. If you say that someone has hit the nail on the head, you think they are exactly right about something. 'I think it would civilize people a bit more if they had decent conditions.'—'I think you've hit the nail on the head.' PHRASE: V inflects 7. a nail in the coffin: see coffin to fight tooth and nail: see tooth

Easton's Bible Dictionary

for fastening. (1.) Hebrew yathed, "piercing," a peg or nail of any material (Ezek. 15:3), more especially a tent-peg (Ex. 27:19; 35:18; 38:20), with one of which Jael (q.v.) pierced the temples of Sisera (Judg. 4:21, 22). This word is also used metaphorically (Zech. 10:4) for a prince or counsellor, just as "the battle-bow" represents a warrior.

(2.) Masmer, a "point," the usual word for a nail. The words of the wise are compared to "nails fastened by the masters of assemblies" (Eccl. 12:11, A.V.). The Revised Version reads, "as nails well fastened are the words of the masters," etc. Others (as Plumptre) read, "as nails fastened are the masters of assemblies" (comp. Isa. 22:23; Ezra 9:8). David prepared nails for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3; 2 Chr. 3:9). The nails by which our Lord was fixed to the cross are mentioned (John 20:25; Col. 2:14).

Nail of the finger (Heb. tsipporen, "scraping"). To "pare the nails" is in Deut. 21:12 (marg., "make," or "dress," or "suffer to grow") one of the signs of purification, separation from former heathenism (comp. Lev. 14:8; Num. 8:7). In Jer. 17:1 this word is rendered "point."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nal: (1) As denoting the finger-nail, the Hebrew word is tsipporen (De 21:12), the captive woman "shall shave her head, and pare her nails." The latter was probably intended to prevent her from marring her beauty by scratching her face, an act of self-mutilation oriental women are repeatedly reported to have committed in the agony of their grief. Aramaic Tephar (Da 4:33, "his nails like birds' claws"). (2) As pin or peg (for tents, or driven into the wall) the word is yathedh (in Jud 4:21 the Revised Version (British and American), "tent-pin"); in Isa 22:23, "a nail in a sure place" is a peg firmly driven into the wall on which something is to be hung (22:24); compare Ec 12:11, where the word is masmeroth, cognate with macmer below. (3) For nails of iron (1Ch 22:3) and gold (2Ch 3:9), and in Isa 41:7 and Jer 10:4, the word is macmer. (4) In the New Testament the word is helos, used of the nails in Christ's hands (Joh 20:25), and "to nail" in Col 2:14 ("nailing it to the cross") is proseloo.

In a figurative sense the word is used of the hard point of a stylus or engraving tool: "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point (literally, "claw," "nail") of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars" (Jer 17:1).

James Orr

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Claw, talon.

Moby Thesaurus

Gibraltar, abduct, adamant, agonize, articulate, at once, attach, bag, batten, batten down, be correct, be precise, be right, biff, bolt, bone, brick, buckle, butt, button, cabbage, capture, carry off, catch, cement, chafe, clasp, claw, claws, cleat, clench, clinch, clip, clout, clutch, clutches, cold, collar, complete, conclude, concrete, diamond, digits, ding, distinguish, dovetail, enmesh, ensnare, entangle, entrap, fangs, fasten, fastener, fastening, finalize, fingernails, fingers, fix, flint, focus, foul, fret, get, glue, grab, granite, grapple, hands, hard as nails, hardy, harpoon, hasp, have, heart of oak, hinge, hit, hitch, hook, hooks, horse, identify, immediately, iron, jam, jaws, join, joint, kidnap, know, know again, land, lasso, latch, lion, lock, make out, mandibles, marble, maxillae, meathooks, mesh, miter, mitts, mortise, nab, nail down, nails, net, nick, nip, nippers, noose, oak, on the nail, on the spot, ox, palm, peg, pin, pincers, pinch, place, pounces, prehend, promptly, punch, rabbet, realize, recall knowledge of, recognize, reidentify, resolve, right away, rivet, rock, rope, sack, scarf, screw, secure, settle, sew, shanghai, shoot, skewer, slog, slosh, snag, snap, snare, snatch, sniggle, sock, spear, spike, spot, staple, steel, stew over, stick, stitch, stone, strike, suffer, tack, take, talon, talons, tangle, tangle up with, teeth, tell, throttle, toggle, tough, trap, unfeeling, unguals, ungulae, unsentimental, unsympathetic, vigorous, wedge, whack, without delay, worry, zipper