nail

Etymology 1

From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”). Cognates Compare Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian neil, Low German Nagel, Dutch nagel, German Nagel, Danish negl, Swedish nagel), (compare Irish ionga, Latin unguis, Albanian nyell (“ankle, hard part of a limb”), Lithuanian nagas, Russian нога́ (nogá, “foot, leg”), но́готь (nógotʹ, “nail”), Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux), Persian ناخن (nâxon), Sanskrit नख (nakhá).

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.
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).

Etymology 2

From Middle English naylen, from Old English næġlan.

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.
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. 1765, “A Song in High Life”, in The Merry Medley, volume 1, London: W. Hoggard, page 35
   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. 1993, Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau, Daniel Waters, Demolition Man, spoken by Captain Healy (Steve Kahan)
   we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge; 2005, Lesley, transl. Brown, Sophist, 261a, translation of original by Plato
5. (transitive, slang) To expose as a sham.
6. (transitive, slang) 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”. 2023-07-06, Dan Milmo, quoting Mark Zuckerberg, “Zuckerberg uses Threads to say Twitter has missed its chance”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
7. (transitive, slang) 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. October 1, 2011, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport
8. (transitive, vulgar, slang) 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. 1985, John Hughes, The Breakfast Club (motion picture)
   There’s a benefit gala at the Boston Pops tonight, and... well, I’m trying to nail the flautist. 1999, Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan, “Da Boom”, in Family Guy, season 2, episode 3, spoken by Brian Griffin (Seth MacFarlane)
9. (military) To spike, as a cannon.
   That the Ordinance be not nayled, nor the munition fiered. 1598, Robert Barret, he Theorike and Practike of Modern Warres
10. (transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.