NAIL

nail

(noun) a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener

nail

(noun) horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits

nail

(noun) a former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard

complete, nail

(verb) complete a pass

collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop

(verb) take into custody; “the police nabbed the suspected criminals”

nail

(verb) attach something somewhere by means of nails; “nail the board onto the wall”

smash, nail, boom, blast

(verb) hit hard; “He smashed a 3-run homer”

pinpoint, nail

(verb) locate exactly; “can you pinpoint the position of the enemy?”; “The chemists could not nail the identity of the chromosome”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

nail (plural nails)

The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.

The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.

The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.

The claw of a bird or other animal.

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.

A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.

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).

Etymology 2

Verb

nail (third-person singular simple present nails, present participle nailing, simple past and past participle nailed)

(transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.

Synonyms: pin, rivet, screw, Thesaurus:join

(intransitive) To drive a nail.

Synonym: hammer

(transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.

(slang) To catch.

Synonyms: arrest, collar, nick, Thesaurus:capture

(transitive, slang) To expose as a sham.

(transitive, slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.

Synonyms: ace, fullbring, fulfill

(transitive, slang) To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.

(transitive, vulgar, slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.

Synonyms: dick, pound, rail, screw, Thesaurus:copulate with

To spike, as a cannon.

(transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

Synonyms: clinch, fix, lock down, pin down

Anagrams

• I-lan, INLA, Ilan, LNAI, Lain, Lani, Lian, Lina, Nila, anil, lain

Source: Wiktionary

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Nail, n. Etym: [AS. nægel, akin to D. nagel, OS 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. nakha.

1. (Anat.)

Definition: 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. (Zoöl.) (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), chiselpointed, cut, wrought, or wire nails, etc.

4. A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or the sixteenth of a yard. Nail ball (Ordnance), a round projectile with an iron bolt protruding to prevent it from turning in the gun.

– Nail plate, iron in plates from which cut nails are made.

– On the nail, in hand; on the spot; immediately; without delay or time of credit; as, to pay money on the nail. "You shall have ten thousand pounds on the nail." Beaconsfield.

– To hit the nail on the head, to hit most effectively; to do or say a thing in the right way.

Nail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nailed; p. pr. & vb. n. Nailing.] Etym: [AS. næglian. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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