noun
nail
nayl
noun
1
The hard, flat plate at the tip of a finger or toe.
"She painted her nails a bright shade of red."
"He bit his nails down to the quick before the interview."
2
A thin, pointed piece of metal hammered into wood or another material to join two things together.
"He used a nail and hammer to fix the loose fence board."
"The old floorboards were held down with rusty nails."
verb
1
To fasten something with a nail, or as if with a nail.
"They nailed the sign to the front of the shop."
2
To do something perfectly or catch someone in the act (informal).
"She absolutely nailed her presentation this morning."
"The detective finally nailed the suspect with hard evidence."
How to Use Nail
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither the hard covering on your fingers and toes, the metal fastener used in building, or — informally — to do something perfectly or catch someone.
Common mistake
"Nail it" (do something perfectly) is informal — avoid it in formal writing; use "succeed at" or "execute perfectly" instead.
Common pairings
hit the nail on the head
nail it
nail down
bite your nails
Word Forms
nailed past tense, nails plural, Nails plural, nails singular
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Etymology
From Old English næġl, tracing back to a very old Proto-Indo-European root for "nail" shared across many European and Indo-Iranian languages.