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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Nail

Nāil, n.

noun

n. [A-S. nāgel, O. Sax. & O. H. Ger. nagal, Icel. nagli, nōgl, Sw., D., & N. H. Ger. nagel, Dan. nagle, nōgl, Goth. nagls, O. Fries. neil, allied to Skr. nakha, nakhara. Russ. nógot, Lith. nagas, Gr. ὄ-νυξ, gen. ὄ-νυχος, Lat. unguis.]

Sense 1. The horny scale growing at the end of the human fingers and toes; a special form of epidermis, and homologous with the hoofs and claws of lower animals.

Sense 2. The claw or talon of a bird or other animal.

Sense 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, or left projecting, as from a wall, to hang any thing upon.

☞ The different sorts of nails are named either from the use to which they are applied, or from their shape, as shingle, floor, ship-carpenters', and horse-shoe nails, rose-heads, diamonds, &c. “The term penny, when used to mark the price of nails, is supposed to be a corruption of pound. Thus, a four-penny nail was such that one thousand of them weighed four pounds, ten-penny such that one thousand weighed ten pounds, &c.” New Amer. Cyc.

Sense 4. A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or the sixteenth of a yard.

On the nail, in hand; immediately; without delay or time of credit; as, to pay money on the nail. — To hit the nail on the head, to hit or touch the exact point.

Nāil, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. NAILED; p. pr. & vb. n. NAILING.] [A-S. nāglian, Goth. naglian, O. H. Ger. naguljan, M. H. Ger. nagelen, N. H. Ger. nageln. See supra.] 1. To fasten with a nail or nails; to unite, close, or stud with nails. The rivets of your arms were nailed with gold. Dryden. 2. To fasten, as with a nail; to bind or hold, as to a bargain or acquiescence in an argument or assertion; to fix; to catch; to trap. When they came to talk of places in town, you saw at once how I nailed them. Goldsmith. 3. To stop the vent of, as a cannon, with a nail; to spike. [Obs.] To nail a lie, assertion, and the like, to expose and prove the falseness of 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.