1a small metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven into wood to join things together or to serve as a hook:don’t try and hammer nails into the ceiling joistsa masonry nail
2a horny covering on the upper surface of the tip of the finger and toe in humans and other primates:she began to bite her nails [as modifier]:a pair of nail clippers
an animal’s claw:the clicking of a dog’s nails on a wooden floor
a hard growth on the upper mandible of some soft-billed birds.
3a medieval measure of length for cloth, equal to 2 1/ 4 inches.
4a medieval measure of wool, beef, or other commodity, roughly equal to 7 or 8 pounds.
ზმნა
Universal
1 [with adverbial of place] fasten with a nail or nails:the strips are simply nailed to the roof
2 informal detect or catch (someone, especially a suspected criminal):have you nailed the killer?
expose (a lie or other deception):he spoke out to nail the lie that he’d had a row with his manager
3 informal (of a player) strike (a ball) forcefully and successfully:she was stretched to the limit and failed to nail the smash
Baseball (of a fielder) put (a runner) out by throwing to a base:he muffed a perfect throw home that should have nailed Slo-Joe by yards
chiefly North American (of a player) defeat or outwit (an opponent):Navratilova tried to nail her on the backhand side
(of a player) secure (a victory) conclusively:I fancy the Scots to nail a win
4 vulgar slang, chiefly US (of a man) have sexual intercourse with.
an action or event regarded as likely to have a detrimental or devastating effect on (a situation or person):this was going to put the final nail in the coffin of his career
on the nail (North American also on the barrelhead)
informal (of payment) without delay:not paying on the nail could be extremely expensive
nail someone down
elicit a firm commitment from someone:I can’t nail her down to a specific date
nail something down
1identify something precisely:something seems unexpected—I can’t nail it down, but it makes me uneasy
2secure an agreement:the company has finally nailed down the agreement with its distributors
