nail

noun

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

   “When I'm nervous I bite my nails.”

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.

   “Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.”

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

   “He nailed the placard to the post.”

2. (intransitive)To drive a nail.

   “He used the ax head for nailing.”

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

   “The rivets of their arms were nail'd with gold.”

4. (slang)To catch.

   “I pray you now send me some dub, / A bottle or two to the needy. / I beg you won't bring it yourself, / The harman is at the Old-Bailey; / I'd rather you'd send it behalf, / For, if they twig you they'll nail you.”

   “Military Intelligence seems to be on the spot in a quiet sort of way. I just met a G-2 slue-foot and he was a most efficient guy! They're keeping low, I think, until they nail their man.”

   “Dammit, John, I'm tired of this 'Demolition Man' stuff! […] Now, I know you've been trying to nail this psycho for two years, but try remembering a little thing called official police procedure.”

   “we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge;”

5. (slang, transitive)To expose as a sham.
6. (slang, transitive)To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.

   “I really nailed that test.”

   “The chief executive and founder of Meta used his new Threads account to say Twitter had not “nailed” its opportunity to become a mega app and that his copycat version would be “focusing on kindness”.”

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

   “Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson departed early with injury but Chris Paterson nailed a penalty from wide out left to give Scotland an early lead, and Jackson's replacement Dan Parks added three more points with a penalty which skimmed over the crossbar.”

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

   “Allison Reynolds: I'm a nymphomaniac. […] The only person I told was my shrink. / Andrew Clark: And what did he do when you told him? / Allison Reynolds: He nailed me.”

   “There’s a benefit gala at the Boston Pops tonight, and... well, I’m trying to nail the flautist.”

9. To spike, as a cannon.

   “That the Ordinance be not nayled, nor the munition fiered.”

10. (transitive)To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.
11. (obsolete, slang, transitive)To steal.

    “Loud was the laughter at this and other remarks about nailing "stooks" (silk pocket handkerchiefs), "clouts" (cotton ditto), german sausages, &c.”

name

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.