English Explanatory Dictionary

nail

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
  2. The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
  3. The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
  4. The claw of a bird or other animal.
  5. 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.
  6. A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
  7. 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
  1. To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
  2. To drive a nail.
  3. To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
  4. To catch.
  5. To expose as a sham.
  6. To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
  7. To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
  8. Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
  9. To spike, as a cannon.
  10. To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.
  11. To steal.
name
  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.

Pronunciation

nāl /neɪl/ [neɪ̯ɫ] en-us-nail.ogg

Word forms

nail nails nailing nailed Naill

Etymology

From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”). Cognates 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).

Synonyms

hammer arrest collar nick apprehend begripe capture fang grasp get gripe lay hold of rape seize take take hold ace fullbring fulfill dick pound rail screw Formal terms bed coit coitize dight enjoy feague go in unto go to bed with have know lie by lie with love mount occupy penetrate season seduce sleep with Any of Thesaurus:copulate + "with" Informal and slang terms ball bang bauf beep be with bone boff boink bonk boom-boom diddle dig out do doink drill

Antonyms

screw

Related words

claw talon Wikipedia disambiguation page on both meanings of nail Wikipedia disambiguation page on spike Nail in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Derived words

another nail in someone's coffin another nail in the coffin bed of nails better than a poke in the eye with a rusty nail bite one's nails brass nail bright nail bullen-nail casing nail chew on one's nails clout-nail clout nail coffin nail common nail cut nail denail door-nail door nail doornail drive a nail in someone's coffin drive a nail where it will go dumb as nails duplex nail eightpenny nail eight-penny nail eight penny nail final nail in the coffin fingernail finger nail finish nail footnail fourpenny nail four-penny nail four penny nail frost-nail frost nail garden nail gimp nail green nail syndrome hand-nail handnail hangnail hard as nails hard nail hit the nail on the head hobnail horsenail horse-nail horseshoe nail jolt head nail Küntscher nail last nail in the coffin lath nail mad enough to chew nails misnail nailable nail ball nail bar nail bat nail bed
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