| 释义 |
▪ I. nail, n.|neɪl|
Forms: 1 næᵹel, næᵹl, 2 nayᵹel, 3 neil(e, 3–7 nayle, naile, 4–5 nayll(e, naill(e, 4–6 nale, (6–7 neale, 6 neayle), 4–7 nayl, 4– nail.
[OE. næᵹel, næᵹl = OFris. neil (nil), OS. nagal (Du. nagel), OHG. nagal, -el, -il (MHG. nagel, nail, neil, G. nagel), ON. nagl (Sw. nagel, Da. negl, Icel. nögl), Goth. *nagls, from a root *nag- found also in Lith. nâgas nail, nagà hoof, OSl. nogŭtĭ (Russ. nógotĭ) nail, noga foot, and obscurely represented in L. unguis, OIr. ingen, Gr. ὄνυξ, ὄνυχος, OPers. nāχun, Skr. nakhás.
In the West Germ. languages the same form of the word is used in senses I and II, but in ON. the nail for fastening has the derivative form nagle, nagli, whence also Da. nagle (but Sw. nagel).]
I.
1. a. A hard, oval-shaped, protective covering of modified epidermis, formed upon the upper surface of the last phalanges of the fingers and toes in Man and the Quadrumana, and answering to the claws or hoofs of other animals and birds.
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) U. 260 Unguana, næᵹl. c1000Laws æthelbirht in Thorpe I. 16 ᵹif þuman næᵹl of weorðeð, iii. scill. ᵹebete. Ibid., æt þam neᵹlum ᵹehwylcun scilling. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 432 His feax weox swa swa wimmana, and his næᵹlas swa swa earnes clawa. c1055Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 326 Læt gan þæt ᵹetæl..þæt þu cume to þæs læstan fingres næᵹle. c1205Lay. 21880 [They set] nailes to heore nebbe, Þat æfter hit bledde. a1225St. Marher. 19 [They] bunden hire the tet [= that the] blod barst ut et te neiles. c1300Havelok 2163 His fet he kisten an hundred syþes, Þe tos, þe nayles, and þe lithes. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 56 He caste on his..Cokeres and his Coffus for Colde of his nayles. c1430Lydg. Stans Puer 49 Fro blaknes kepe weel þi nailis. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 1924 His handis.. Off manlik mak, with nales gret and cler. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 182 b, A scoldyng woman, whose weapon is onely her toungue and her nayles. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 298, I am not yet so low But that my nailes can reach vnto thine eyes. a1631Donne Poems (1650) 139 She is all faire, but yet hath foule long nayles. 1682Dryden Mac-Fl. 44 The lute still trembling underneath thy nail. 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 350 Do not bite your Nails. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 285 The nails still continued perfect; and all the marks of the joints..remained perfectly visible. 1814Byron Lara ii. vi, The bitter print of each convulsive nail. 1873Mivart Elem. Anat. vii. 238 Our hair and nails are epidermal parts of the exoskeleton.
b. A similar growth on the toes of beasts and birds; a claw or talon. (See also quot. 1841.)
a1100Eadwine's Cant. Psalt. lxviii. 32 Ceælf ᵹeong..hornæs forðledende & neᵹlæs vel clawa. a1340Hampole Psalter lxviii. 36 Þe new kalf, forth bryngand hornes & nayles. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 34 This Egle..Withyn hys sharpe nayles longe Me fleynge in a swappe he hente. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. i. (Bodl. MS.), Nailles beþ nedefulle to kepe þe vttermoste parties and also for defence of many manere beestes. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 54 Lyons folde vp their nailes when they are in their dennes. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge b 1 b, The nailes are in all that have toes; but the ape's are imbricate, those of the rapacious aduncate: in others they are straight; as in doggs. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Animals, Having the foot divided into Two parts or toes, having two nails, as the camel-kind. 1797T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 373 The middle toe, including the nail, is about seven eighths of an inch. 1841Waterhouse Marsup. 202 A tuft of long black hairs which conceal a nail, with which the tip of the tail is furnished. 1859Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 477/2 In the dog and cat..a bony plate extends from the last phalanx into the posterior fold of the nail. 1893Newton Dict. Birds 89 The toes of most birds are protected by claws or flat nails, only in the Ostrich the outer toe has no nail.
2. Something resembling a nail in shape or colour:
†a. A growth in the eye; a haw. Obs.
c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, Sometyme commeth to þe houndes sekenes in hir eyenn, for þer commeth a webbe..into þt one syde of þe eye and is cleped an nayle. 1600Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxviii. 182 The naile in the eie shall be lifted vp with a little small needle of Iuorie, and then cut quite away with cisers. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 83 Pain and blindness in the eye, by reason of any skins, webs, or nails. 1656Ridgley Pract. Physick 120 A Haw in the Eye is a little nail; it is a nervous membrane.
b. (See quot. 1578.) Now rare or Obs.
1562Turner Herbal ii. 116 b, The iuyce oughte to be pressed out of the tender roses, after that whiche is named the nayle be cut awaye. 1578Lyte Dodoens 655 The nayles, that is to say, the white endes of the leaues whereby they are fastened to the knappes..is called in Latine, Vngues Rosarum. 1611Cotgr., Ongle d'une rose, the nayle, root, or white bottome of the flower of a Rose. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden xix. 38 There be six parts in a Rose..as 1. The Leaves. 2. The Nails. [1821tr. Decandolle & Sprengel's Philos. Plants i. iii. 63 In a poly⁓petalous corolla, the smaller part of the petals, which often resembles a stalk, is called the nail (unguis), and the expanded part is called lamina.]
c. A nail-like excrescence, situated on the upper mandible of certain soft-billed birds.
1769E. Bancroft Guiana 171 The upper mandible being augmented with a nail. 1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 263 The bill is larger..with always a white terminal nail to the upper mandible. Ibid., Bill, generally blackish, with..a black nail.
3. In allusive expressions or phrases:
a. a nail or nail's breadth (cf. L. transversum unguem), the smallest amount. Chiefly in negative expressions.
1538Bale Thre Lawes 261 The see doth ebbe and flowe And varyeth not a nayle. 1637Gillespie Eng. Pop. Cerem. ii. i. 9 The position..which we maintaine.., and from which we will not departe the breadth of one naile, is this. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events To Rdr. a 2 He may not swerve a nailes breadth. 1754Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. 45, I have a greater regard for a nail's breadth of my soul, than my whole body.
b. With verbs, as to bite, blow, pare one's nails.
1577F. de Lisle's Legendarie I viij b, This caused the Cardinal and the rest of his brethren to bite their nailes. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 229/1 God must needes paire the nailes, as well of vs men as women, and vse violence against vs. 1600Holland Livy xli. xxxiv. 938 It is nothing so good,..to take downe the ætolians and pare their nailes, as to looke unto Philip that he wax not too great. 1663South Serm. 5 Nov. (1727) V. 221 So that the King, for any thing that he has to do in these Matters, may sit and blow his Nails; for use them otherwise, he cannot. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vii. xv, To pare his nails the closer, I had gone into the market, and informed myself of the prices. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xix, A man who has been three years biting his nails on a desert island..can't expect to appear as sane as you or me.
c. from the tender nail (tr. L. de tenero ungui, Hor. Odes iii. vi. 24), from early youth. to the or a nail (tr. L. ad unguem, Hor. Sat. i. v. 32), to a nicety, to perfection.
1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 4 Loving them inwardly, and (as the proverbe saith) from their tender nailes. c1611Chapman Iliad xxiii. 581 A tall huge man, that to the nail knew that rude sport of hand. a1834Coleridge Notes Horace, Epist. ii. xv, Maenius is capital. The swell-feast buffoon to a nail. 1891S. Mostyn Curatica 43 My peroration was never extempore, but always prepared beforehand, and polished to the nail.
d. naked, nice, as my nail: see the adjs.
e. tooth and nail: see tooth.
II.
4. a. A small spike or piece of metal of varying length and thickness (generally furnished with a point and a broadened head, so as to be easily driven in by a hammer), used to fix one thing firmly to another, or as a peg from which something may be suspended, occasionally also as an ornament; rarely, a wooden peg (cf. tree-nail).
c725Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) P. 107 Paxillum, palum, naeᵹl. c893K. ælfred Oros. iv. i. 158 Hie namon treowu, & sloᵹon on oþerne ende moniᵹe scearpe isene næᵹlas. c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xvii, Se liᵹ þurhæt ða næᵹlas..ðe heo to ðam waᵹe mid ᵹefæstnod wæs. c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 212 Næᵹelas ᵹeseon anxsumnysse ᵹetacnað. a1225Leg. Kath. 2151 [He] het..þurhdriuen hire tittes wið irnene neiles. c1300Havelok 712 Þer-inne wantede nouth a nayl, Þat euere he sholde þer-inne do. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7709 Als nayles er in a whele with-out, Þat with þe whele er turned obout. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 603 Ryche golde naylez Þat al glytered & glent as glem of þe sunne. c1440Promp. Parv. 350/2 Nayl of metalle, clavus. Nayle of tymbyr, cavilla. c1483Caxton Dialogues 21 Gyrdellis with nayles of silver. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 223 b, As a nayle, the moo knockes it hath the more sure it is fixed. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 283 b, That they should dryve in Iron nayles into the Canons and other great pieces. 1626Bacon Sylva §14 For handsomness sake,..it were good you hang the upper Glass upon a Nail. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 219 Our Rudder broke, which being quickly mended again with some Nails, we sailed only with a fore-sail. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v., In the same sense our seamen say, every nail in her bottom is an anchor. 1813Shelley Q. Mab v. 142 To mould a pin, or fabricate a nail! 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 268/2 Iron nails are either wrought, cast, or cut out of sheet-iron.
collect.1430Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1904) 72 Also for a c blak nayll vj d. Also for iijc & half white nayll..ij s xj d. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 36 A hatchet and bil, with hamer and englishe naile, sorted with skil.
b. In transf. and fig. senses.
a1340Hampole Psalter ix. 15 [Thai] ere festid in ded of synn, with nailes of ill delite. Ibid. xii. 1 With þe naile of luf festid..in Jesu crist. c1386Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 23 For in oure wit ther stiketh ever a nayl. 1436Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 182 The nayle of thys conclusioun. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 26 The soule,..being filled with infinite perturbations, fastened in the midst of it with the naile of pleasure and griefe. 1649E. Reynolds Hosea i. 33 Take..this nayle..out of my heart. 1684Contempl. St. Man i. x. (1699) 108 Let him..fix his Memory with a Thousand Nails. 1822Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Confess. Drunkard, The countless nails that rivet the chains of habit. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 474, I set to work to do a trade with Lo Magondi, but found him a terribly hard nail.
c. Prov. one nail drives out another, etc.
For purely figurative uses see 7 c.
1586B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 191 One danger is expelled by an other, As one nayle is driuen out by an other. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 193 Euen as one heate, another heate expels, Or as one naile, by strength driues out another. 1607― Cor. iv. vii. 54 One fire driues out one fire; one Naile, one Naile. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Siege Jerusalem Wks. 13/1 Thus as one nayle another out doth drive The Persians the Assyrians did deprive. 1900Athenæum 27 Oct. 547/2 Nail drives out nail.
†d. Used as a mark to show the depth to which a coal-keel might be loaded. (Cf. nail v. 2 c.)
1651Rec. Comp. Hostmen Newcastle (Surtees) 95 The Court was informed by Mr Raph Gray..that they see two keeles of Coles of Mr ― Claverings, who had the Tweelve chalder nailes drowned. 1679Ibid. 139 Custome-house officers threatens to seize the keiles that are measured by Stoke nales. 1695Act 6 & 7 Will. III, c. 10 §7.
e. Mining. A blasting-needle.
1839Ure Dict. Arts. 836 When the hole is dry, and the charge of powder introduced, the nail, a small taper rod of copper, is inserted so as to reach the bottom of the hole.
5. a. In passages relating or alluding to the Crucifixion of Christ.
This is one of the most frequent contexts in which the word occurs in OE. and early ME.
a900Cynewulf Crist 1109 Swa him mid næᵹlum þurh⁓drifan..þa hwitan honda. ― Elene 1109 Þær þa æðelestan..hydde wæron..næᵹlas on eorðan. 971Blickl. Hom. 91 He eac æteowde þa wunda & þara næᵹla dolh. c1000Ags. Gosp. John xx. 25 Ne ᵹelyfe ic buton..ic do minne finger on ðære næᵹela [Hatton nayᵹelene] stede. a1225Ancr. R. 114 Godes honden weren ineiled oðe rode. Þurh þeo ilke neiles ich halse ou ancren [etc.]. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 16/503 Þe swete nayles al-so And þe swete burþene of godes sone. c1325Chron. Eng. 629 in Ritson Metr. Rom. II. 296 Ther⁓inne wes closed a nail gret That ede thurh godes fet. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) x. 39 Þe foure nayles þat Criste was nayled with. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxii. 107 Croce and nalis scharp, scurge, and lance. 1580Hay Demandes in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 58 He hes nocht the markes of his blissid fyve woundes, maid..in his handes and feit be the nales. 1649E. Reynolds Hosea i. 31 They felt the nails wherewith they had crucified Christ, sticking fast in their own hearts. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 430 The faithful..elevate their minds to Christ's passion, of which the nail is a memorial. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. iv. (1877) II. 250 The nails of the Cross..were converted by the emperor into a helmet.
†b. Hence, probably, in oaths and forms of asseveration, as (by) nails, (by) God's nails, his nails, 's nails. Obs.
These expressions, however, might also belong to (or may sometimes have been taken in) sense 1: see god n. 14 a.
c1386Chaucer Doctor-Pardoner Link 2 (C. 288) Our Hoste gan to swere as he were wood, ‘Harrow!’ quod he, ‘by nayles and by blood!’ c1460[see god n. 14 a]. c1530Copland Hye Wey to Spyttel Hous 362 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 43 With horyble othes swerynge as they were wod, Armes, nayles, woundes. 1573New Custom ii. iii, His nails, I would plague them one way or another. 1604Dekker Honest Whore i. vii, Nailes, I think so, for thou telst me. Ibid. Sneales eate the foole. 1631Chettle Hoffmann C, Well, and you were not my father,—s'nailes and I would not draw rather then put vp the foole.
6. transf.
a. A defect in a stone. ? Obs.
1655Stanley Hist. Philos. ii. (1701) 61/2 That the Stars are of a fiery Substance, invisible, Earthly Bodies intermixt with them; that they are inherent, as nails in Chrystal. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Marble, There are two defects frequent in marbles..; the one, what they sometimes call nails, answering to the knots in wood.
†b. Med. (See quots.) Obs.
1600Surflet Countrie Farme i. xii. 78 To ripen a naile, otherwise called a fellon or Cats-haire. 1634T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. xxii. xxxii. (1678) 516 Some call it [a carbuncle] a Nail, because it inferreth like pain as a Nail driven into the flesh. 1685J. Cooke Mellif. Chirurg. iv. ii. i. (ed. 4) 194 When it becomes so hard, and the Cornea round about being brawny, presseth it down, 'tis called Elos, Clavus, i.e. the Nail, being like a Nail-Head.
c. = backing vbl. n. 11.
1797Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIX. 207 The waft was chiefly spun by old women, and that only from backings or nails, as they were not able to card the wool.
d. (See quot. 1812.)
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., A person of an over-reaching, imposing disposition, is called a nail, a dead nail, a nailing rascal. 1874S. Beauchamp Grantley Grange I. 121 Murby is the ‘deadest nail’ in all the country.
7. In allusive phrases (chiefly with verbs):
a. to hit the (right) nail on the head, to aim aright, to come at the very point of the matter, to say or do exactly the right thing.
a1529Skelton Col. Cloute 34 And yf that he hyt The nayle on the hede, It standeth in no stede. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 19 You hit the naile on the head (as the saying is). 1599H. Buttes Dyets Drie Dinner E vj, His chiefe pride resteth in hitting the nayle on the head with a quainte Epithite. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 75 If in giving their judgments, forsooth, they have not hit the naile on the head. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 327 At last they ignorantly hit the nail on the head, saying that the Devil was in him. 1760Murphy Way to keep Him ii. ii. You have not hit the right nail on the head. 1809Malkin Gil Blas i. v. ⁋5 He hit the right nail on the head: for he let me do what I pleased. 1838Dickens O. Twist xlii, You've hit the right nail on the head, and are as safe here as you could be.
b. to drive the nail (up) to the head (or home), to push a matter to a conclusion.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 278 b, Let hym have a respect to him selfe and his children..and dryve not the nayle to the head. 1604Hieron Wks. I. 536 He will be sure to driue the nailes of his exhortations to the head. 1650Trapp Comm. Deut. ix. 7 One knock after another, drives this naile home to the head. 1690Def. Dr. Walker 6 But to drive the Nail home, take the Testimonial of Gervase Squire, Esq. 1897F. Barrett Harding Scandal xiv, He must drive the nail right home,..by leaving no doubt in the minds of Denise and Thrale.
c. In miscellaneous phrases, esp. various applications of to drive (or clinch) a nail.
1548Udall Erasm. Par. Luke xii. 113 Leat therefore one nayle driue out another nayle. [Cf. 4 c.] 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 96 That fellow could not be without a reply to beate backe the nayle againe. 1623F. Ryves in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 301 After a while, that Negotiation was hung up upon the Nail, in expectance of the Princes return. 1677W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. iii. 53 To clinch the Nail, (for 'tis all one) in Prose this fashion [etc.]. 1687R. L'Estrange Answ. Dissenter 30 So he sets himself to the Driving of Another Naile. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 357 They rather sought by one Nail to drive out another, than openly to denounce War against them. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. iv. i. 87 O she's mad for the Masquerade! it drives like a Nail, we want nothing now but a Parson, to clinch it. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 14 To gain any success, we must proceed with discretion.., driving the nail that will go. 1809Malkin Gil Blas xi. xiii. ⁋4 A mischievous wind from the wrong quarter..drives a nail into the very head of the expedition. [Cf. Judges iv. 21–22.] 1830Galt Lawrie T. ii. ii. (1849) 46 He was..brisk at a bargain, so the nail was soon driven.
d. a nail in one's coffin, something that hastens or contributes to the end of the person or thing referred to. Freq. used with ref. to drinking. (Cf. coffin n. 3 d.)
1792Wolcot (P. Pindar) Expost. Odes xv, Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. xvi, Every minute he lies here is a nail in his coffin. 1884Illustr. Lond. News 29 Nov. 526/3 ‘The Candidate’..is one more nail in the coffin of slow acting.
8. on the nail.
a. On the spot, at once, without the least delay. Chiefly used of making money payments.
The origin of the phrase is obscure, and it is not even certain that it belongs to this sense of nail. Though different in meaning, it may correspond to F. sur l'ongle, ‘precisely, exactly’ (cf. Du. op den nagel, G. auf den nagel in the same sense). The explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 59 Tell me, haue you a minde to anie thing in the Doctors Booke! speake the word, and I will help you to it vpon the naile. 1600Holland Livy vi. xiv. 225 [He] paid the whole debt downe right on the naile, unto the creditour. 1632Massinger City Madam i. i, A payment on the nail for a manor Late purchased by my master. 1668R. Steele Husbandm. Calling v. (1672) 127 Not I'le do it at my leisure, but upon the nail I restore him fourfold. 1694Echard Plautus 90 I've occasion for a hundred Pounds down o' the Nail. 1720Swift Run on Bankers Wks. 1755 IV. i. 22 We want our money on the nail. 1764Oxf. Sausage 74, I on the Nail my Battels paid. 1804M. Edgeworth Pop. T., Will ii, The bonnet's all I want, which I'll pay for on the nail. 1839Carleton Fardorougha (ed. 2) 424 Answer me that on the nail! 1887A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 165 He..paid for him on the nail with other people's money.
b. (Precise meaning not clear.)
1679tr. M. Mancini's Apol. 96 While my Caleche..ran all on the Nayl [F. voloit] by the Road, and I endeavour'd by travelling all night to repair my loss of time. 1750W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. VI. i. 73 It is in their Power to forbear such Work till dry Weather favours their Design; and then Carts are drawn, as we call it on the Nail, without damaging their arable Lands.
c. In a fix or trap; neatly caught.
1810J. Porter Sc. Chiefs xxx, ‘We shall have the rogue on the nail yet’, cried he.
d. In readiness.
1846Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. II. 276 He sighed too..and had ne'er a word on the nail.
e. ‘On the carpet’, under discussion.
1886W. T. Stead in Contemp. Rev. May 666 The enormous advantage of being up to date, of discussing subjects that are, in the slang phrase, ‘on the nail’. 1891Pall Mall G. 18 Nov. 2/1 We must leave Spiritualism..for Theosophy, a subject at present very much ‘on the nail’.
9. Sc.
a. to go (or be) off at the nail, to behave strangely, go (or be) off one's head.
1721Kelly Scot. Prov. 173 He is gone off at the Nail..means that he is gone out of all bounds of Reason. 1822Galt Sir A. Wylie xlvii, I see ye're terrified, and think I'm going off at the nail. 1824S. E. Ferrier Inher. lix, They [sc. servants] are really going off at the nail. 1897W. Beatty Secretar xlix, That woman's aff at the nail.
b. off the nail, not quite sober.
1822Galt Steamboat 300, I was what you would call a thought aff the nail, by the which my sleep wasna just what it should have been.
10. In comparisons, as deaf as a nail, hard as nails, right as nails.
a1845Hood Tale Trump. viii, She was deaf as a nail—that you cannot hammer A meaning into, for all your clamour. 1862Horlock Country Gentl. v, Hard as nails in condition. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars v. 229 The old stewards of manors..as a class..were hard as nails. 1894Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life I. 225, I really believe, in a fortnight I shall be as right as nails.
III. 11. A measure of weight for wool, beef, etc., usually equal to eight pounds = clove n.3; † also, a measure of land. Now only south. dial. (So MDu. and MHG. nagel.)
1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 352 A nail of Lambeswolle, is at the value of ixd. 1442Ibid. V. 59/1 Half a pek and a nayle of Londe, Pasture and Hethe. 1455Ibid. 335/2, m.ccxxvi sakkes and half sakke and xi naylis of Woll. c1500in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 101 And it conteyne more than xij naile than shal the Sheref take therfore as miche as of a sac of iij weis. 1530Palsgr. 247/1 Nayle of woll. 1618Sussex Arch. Coll. (1851) IV. 24 Paid 7s. to the hemp-dresser, for 14 nail of hemp-dressing. 1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 80 Beef, in 1 Nail, 8 Pounds of common use. 1681Worlidge Syst. Agric. (ed. 2) 329 A Naile, in some places eight pound, in some seven pound, being [? a sixteenth] of a Hundred. 1836Cooper Sussex Gloss., Nail, eight pounds of beef or cheese.
12. A measure of length for cloth; 21/4 inches, or the sixteenth part of a yard. † Abbrev. nai.
The precise origin of this sense is not clear. The use of the nail in early examples suggests that one sixteenth from the end of the yard-stick may have been marked by a nail.
1465Paston Lett. II. 235 By me a quarter and the nayle therof for colers. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 117, ij yerds di' and a naille corse of blue silk. 1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 417 Item .v. yardys mynus the nayle, welwet blake. 1536Act 28 Hen. VIII, c. 4 §1 Euery..halfe piece of lockerams to be in bredth a hole yarde, lackyng a nayle of the yarde. 1562Leigh Armorie (1597) 77 A tippet of three nailes breadth. 1592Lyly Midas v. ii, They be halfe a yeard broad, and a nayle. 1611Cotgr., Vn sezieme d'aulne, three ynches, and (as one Neale of the yard) the least diuision of the French ell. 1630Wingate Arith. 365, 2053/4 yards or Ells, and 2 nai. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1665/4 A parcel of Grey Searge, Yard and Nail broad. 1732Acc. Workhouses 60 An ell and half of three quarters and nail wide linnen. 1822Beddoes Bride's Trag. i. ii, I've..written twenty yards, two nails, An inch and a quarter, cloth-measure, of sonnets.
IV. attrib. and Comb.
13. In sense 1.
a. In the names of articles used for the care of the nails, as nail-brush, nail enamel, nail file, nail-knife, nail lacquer, nail-pick, nail polish, † nail-sax, nail scissors (also transf.), nail varnish; nail buffer, nail clipper(s, nail-parer, nail-picker, nail polisher, nail-scraper.
1802M. Edgeworth Let. in E. Inglis-Jones Great Maria (1959) iv. 65 Enter Miss Linwood who looks not unlike a strolling player... I wish she had a nail brush. 1807J. Beresford Mis. Hum. Life 245 Using a nail-brush that would serve for a wool-comb. 1893Times 14 Dec. 8/2 A plentiful supply of hot and cold water, soap, nail brushes, and towels.
1908Sears, Roebuck Catal. 328/1 Solid Silver Nail Buffer, fancy handle, 4½ inches long. 1971Petticoat 24 July 3/4 There are six appliances for the nails—two files, a nail buffer, cuticle stick, nail brush and callous remover.
1945J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xvi. 67 Dora..was there to buy a pair of nail-clippers. 1969Sears, Roebuck Catal. 869/3 Resco Nail Clipper. Helps guard hosiery, furniture, pet's paw-health.
1907Nail enamel [see nail polish below]. 1913T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 177/3 Lustrite Nail Enamel..will produce a brilliant lustre. 1972Vogue June Special 90 Blueberry Wine Nail Enamel.
1881Graphic 21 May (back cover) (Advt.), Nail file. Cigar cutter. Scissors. 1894Country Gentlemen's Catal. 173/2 Pair nail scissors, button-hook and nail-file. 1922F. Courtenay Physical Beauty 47 When you have shaped the external edge of the nails with a fine pair of scissors, finish with emery or a steel nail file. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 397 Sapphire-coated Nail File... Two surfaces..one for shaping, one for finishing.
a1225Juliana 56 Irnene gadien, kene te keoruen al þat ha rineð to as neil cniues.
1966J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 101/2 Nail lacquer, nitro⁓cellulose dissolved in Butyl Acetate and allied substances forming, when dry, a hard, tough, resistant film on the surface of the nail. 1973J. Rossiter Manipulators viii. 90 A cosmetician's display of nail lacquers and lipstick cases. 1974Harpers & Queen Sept. 50/3 We want to change our nail lacquers as often as our clothes.
1683Wilding in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 257 For a nail-pearer.
1947J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus xvii. 222 He took his gold nail-pick from his pocket and opened it and cleaned his nails.
1810Splendid Follies I. 125 Tooth-brush, nail-picker, tongue-scraper.
1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 538/3 Diamond Nail Enamel..box 0/10½... Electric Nail Polish..bot. 1/6. 1937Discovery Mar. 86/1 It [sc. diatomite] is used in face powders and nail polishes. 1972‘H. Carmichael’ Naked to Grave i. 15 A tiny bottle of pink nail polish and another of nail polish remover.
1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 435/2 Chamois Nail Polisher, fancy Solid Sterling Silver mountings. 1913E. Wharton Custom of Country i. i. 13 Mrs. Heeny, driving her nail-polisher cheeringly.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 142/23 Nouaculum, næᵹlsex. c1205Lay. 30578 He igrap a nail sax felliche kene and wel iwhæt.
1810Splendid Follies I. 10 Away too went combs and razor..; the wash-ball, the nail-scraper.
1854J. E. Millais Let. 5 June in M. Lutyens Millais & Ruskins (1967) 222, I have had to operate upon myself with a pair of nail scissors. 1860All Year Round No. 52. 35, Combs and brushes, tweezers and nail-scissors. 1919W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 35 Nail scissors, the crossed sword and baton worn as a badge of rank by a General. 1951Catal. of Exhibits, South Bank Exhib., Festival of Britain 60/1 Baby's nail scissors..Cuticle nail scissors.
1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 495/2 ‘Elite’ Nail Varnish..bot. 1/6. 1936Chem. Abstr. XXX. 7784 Cosmetics in pharmacy... A discussion of face powders, foundation creams,..shampoos and nail varnishes. 1954Granta 6 Nov. 23/2 One uses nail varnish the other not. 1972Vogue Feb. 46/2 Nail Varnish, Revlon's Ultima II. 1974She Jan. 63/4 Nail Varnish Remover pads, 14p for 17.
b. In various attributive uses, as nail-clippings, nail-joint, nail-parings, † nail-reach, nail-score.
Also freq. in recent medical works in such combs. as nail-bed, nail-cell, nail-fold, nail-follicle, nail-groove, nail-matrix, nail-plate, nail-root, nail-substance, nail-surface, nail-tissue, nail-wall, etc.
a1652Brome New Acad. i. i, Let him take heed, he comes not in my Nayl-reach. 1834Penny Cycl. II. 149/1 The index and middle fingers..being connected together as far as the nail-joint. 1859Todd's Cycl. Anat. V. 477/1 They are enclosed within raised ridges of the whole integuments, the nail walls. 1875Anderson Norse Mythol. 455 A mythical ship made of nail-parings. 1893Newton Dict. Birds 89 A thickening of the Malpighian layer, which forms the ‘nailbed’ out of which the corneous cells grow. 1896A. Morrison Child Jago 45 Nail-scores, wide as the finger, striped her back. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 444 A bundle of finger, or other bones, nail-clippings, eyes, brains, &c.
c. Miscellaneous combs., as nail-biter, nail-biting, nail-cutting, etc.; nail-bearing, nail-like adjs.; nail-tailed a., having a nail or spur on the tip of the tail; nail-tailed wallaby Austral., a wallaby of the genus Onychogalea, distinguished by white stripes on the cheeks and at the top of each limb, and a horny nail near the end of the tail.
1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 261 The corneous portion is restricted to the nail-like extremity. 1841Waterhouse Marsup. 201 Nail-bearing kangaroo, Macropus unguifer. 1863Gould Mamm. Austr. II. 52 Onychogalea unguifer, Nail-tailed Kangaroo. 1893Daily News 5 July 5/5 Directing his attention..to the study of nail-biting. Ibid., Eleven..were confirmed nail-biters. 1896F. G. Aflalo Sk. Nat. Hist. Austral. i. 43 The Nail-tailed (Onychogalea) and Hare (Lagorchestes) Wallabies are wanting in Tasmania, though three species of each are found on the mainland. 1896Lydekker Marsupials 49 The three species of Nail-tailed Wallabies, which are confined to Australia..form a well-marked group. 1899Westm. Gaz. 8/2 The question whether nail-cutting is a surgical operation. 1941Koestler Scum of Earth 151 But what was the symbolical meaning of all these..nail-biting..figures? 1959Ann. Reg. 1958 190 Sinclair Weeks said..that the outlook was ‘far better than the nail-biting pessimists think’. 1970W. D. L. Ride Guide Native Mammals Austral. 53 Three species of rather strikingly marked wallabies are called nail-tailed wallabies because they possess a small dark horny nail, rather like a finger nail, hidden in the dark hair at the end of the slender tail. 1973Times 2 Oct. 21/4 The next few weeks will be nail-biting ones for Leonard Grouse.
14. In sense 4.
a. Attributive, as nail-apparatus, nail boot, † nail-chapman, nail factory, nail-hammer, nail-length, nail-machine, nail mill, nail-print, nail-shank, nail-shop, nail-smith, nail-trade; † nail-ball (see quots.); nail-blank, an unfinished nail; † nail-board Naut. (meaning uncertain); nail bomb, a lethal weapon, used esp. by urban guerrillas, made from nails wrapped round a stick of gelignite; nail-gall, a nail-shaped gall produced on the leaves of lime and other trees by a mite of the genus Phytoptus; nail-kag or -keg, a small barrel containing nails; also (U.S.) a hat of a similar shape; nail-money (see quot.); nail-plate, -strip, a piece of iron from which nails are cut; nail-stub, a worn horse-shoe nail; a stub-nail; nail-tumbler, a part of the lock mechanism of a rifle; nail violin (see quot. 1959). See also nail-head, -hole, -rod, -tool, etc.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 875 The first *nail apparatus to which I shall particularly advert is due to Dr. Church.
1853Stocqueler Mil. Encycl., *Nail Balls, a missile, consisting of a strong nail, with a ball thereto attached while in the act of casting. 1864Webster (citing Scott), Nail-ball, a round projectile with an iron pin protruding from it, to prevent its turning in the bore of the piece.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1509/1 The cutter enclosed in the box..forming the *nail-blank.
1971New Scientist 26 Aug. 483/3 They will assess the effects on the elderly, the sick, children..of the explosives, *nail-bomb, indiscriminate rifle and machine gun fire. 1971Guardian 11 Oct. 20/3 A boy of about 10 threw a nail bomb at troops in Belfast yesterday. 1973R. Clutterbuck Protest & Urban Guerrilla x. 111 The same unemployed teenage boys..turned out..almost every evening to throw stones and nail-bombs at army posts and patrols. 1973‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog x. 135 These revolutionaries were not the ill-shaven back-street throwers of nail-bombs. They were a disciplined corps.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Fight at Sea Wks. iii. 34/1 They stayed some halfe an houre..tearing vp our *naile-bords vpon the Poope and the trap-hatch.
1923D. H. Lawrence Ladybird 242 The other fellows with sticks and *nail-boots had now taken heart and were scrambling like crabs past our hero.
1685Dangerfield Mem. 17 [Received] of a *Nail-Chapman 10s.
1833H. Barnard in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1918) XIII. 374, I found my old friend..who took me to see..a *nail factory [etc.].
1879Encycl. Brit. X. 46/1 The lime-leaf ‘*nail-galls’ of Phytoptus tiliae closely resemble the ‘trumpet-galls’ formed on American vines by a species of Cecidomyia. 1951Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) III. 1345/1 Nail-galls. Galls on leaves of Lime and other trees somewhat resembling tin-tacks driven through the leaf tissues. They result from attacks of species of Phytoptus.
1872‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xxvi. 194 They wear a cylindrical hat termed a ‘*nail-kag’. 1889― Yankee Crt. K. Arthur (1900) 6 A helmet on his head the size of a nail-keg with slits in it.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 876 The shears which cut the rod into *nail-lengths.
1819E. Dana Geogr. Sk. Western Country 77 Zanesville is..at the falls, whereon various mills are erected..including..an oil mill, *nail machine, and woolen factory. 1853Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 255 The nail machine consists essentially of a pair of cutting chisels or edges [etc.]. 1850Rep. Comm. Patents: Agric. 1849 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 93 Within its present limits are about fifty cotton factories..seven rolling, slitting, and *nail mills.
1801Strutt Sports & Past. iii. i. 124 They also claimed every one of them six crowns as *nail money, for affixing the blazon of arms to the pavilions.
1797in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1918) LIV. 107 Agreed with Mr. Allen to work at eight shillings pr. ton..cutting every kind of rods and dubble for iron hoops or *nail plates. 1810in Ure Dict. Arts (1839) 875 The principal business of rolling and slitting-mills, is rolling nail plates. 1945Amer. Speech XX. 115 Since the cut nail is an American invention, the word nail-plate must be of American origin.
1890W. H. St. J. Hope in Archaeol. LII. 687 The left arm, with open hand, showing the *nail-print, is extended downwards.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 877 The *nail shank being still firmly held in the jaws of the vice.
1847H. Miller First Impress. Eng. viii. 146 Little brick houses, with a *nail-shop in each.
1611Cotgr., Cloutier, a nayler, a *nayle-smith. 1762tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. IV. 388 It also contains many nail-smiths or nailers. 1869Echo 22 Sept. 1/4 The nailsmith, like Othello, will ‘find his occupation gone’.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1505/2 The *nail-strips are heated by being placed on their edges on red-hot coals.
1851H. Melville Moby Dick III. xxvii. 176 Look ye, blacksmith, these are the gathered *nail-stubbs of the steel shoes of racing horses.
1727Boyer Dict. Royal ii. s.v., The *Nail-trade,..commerce de Cloux.
1844Regul. & Ord. Army 101 For *Nail-tumbler, new..3d.
1884E. Heron-Allen Violin-Making v. 108 In the year 1740 a German musician, named Johann Wilde,..invented a curious instrument called a *Nail-violin. 1944W. Apel Harvard Dict. Mus. 478/1 There exists a quartet by F. W. Rust for nail violin, two violins and cello. 1959Collins Mus. Encycl. 448/2 Nail Violin... It consisted of a semicircular resonator of wood into which were driven U-shaped nails of graduated lengths. The sound was produced by a bow.
b. Objective and obj. gen., in names of persons, as nail-bearer, nail-manufacturer, nail-minder, nail-tacker, nail-tinner, nail-weigher, nail-worker; or of apparatus, as nail-clincher, nail-cutter, nail-driver (also transf.), nail-extractor, nail-passer, nail-piercer, nail-puller, nail-selector, etc.
1871Ruskin Fors Clav. 1 Feb. 5 Fors, the *Nail-bearer, means the strength of Lycurgus, or of Law.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1506/1 *Nail-clincher, a blacksmith's tool for clinching the point end of a nail..against the hoof.
Ibid. 1505/2 The American *nail-cutter was the first to cut the nails and swage the heads at one operation.
1823J. F. Cooper Pilot I. viii. 106 The cannon, above which were painted the several quaint names of ‘boxer’,..‘exterminator’, and ‘*nail-driver’. 1872Life of Bill Hickman 54 (Th.), I had a nail-driver [sc. a horse], very swift, and no end to his bottom.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 875 Mr. Edward Hancorne,..*nail manufacturer, obtained a patent in October, 1828.
1884B'ham Daily Post 24 Jan. 3/4 A small factory..wants a practical *Nail-minder.
1839Hereford Gloss., Nail piercer, or Nail percer, and corruptly, *Nail passer, a gimlet. 1890Buckman Darke's Sojourn xviii. 170 Nails, nail-passers and such-like, were poked in between the beams and the boards of the floor above.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 295 This goeth under several names, as a Gimblet, a *Nail Piercer. 1713Cheselden Anat. i. ii. (1726) 25 The passage..may be made..with a carpenters nail-piercer or gimblet.
1880Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) XI. 439/2 A very powerful modification..has lately been introduced into use under the name of the *nail-puller.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 626/2 *Nail Selector, a machine, or an attachment to a nail-machine, to pick out perfect nails from headless and ill-formed nails.
1885Harper's Mag. Jan. 284/1 The outer sole is applied by a ‘*nail-tacker’.
1819P.O. Lond. Direct. 382 *Nail-tinners, and Manufacturers of Chain Hooks.
1832Lincoln Herald 11 Sept. 2/4 An extraordinary affidavit of a *nail-weigher of Dudley.
1882Standard 26 Dec. 2/3 He supplies..the *nail-workers with their sixty-pound bundles of iron.
c. Instrumental, as nail-bestudded, nail-pierced, nail-studded; and similative, as nail-like, nail-shaped.
a1777Fawkes Song of Deborah, Low at her feet he bow'd his nail-pierc'd head. 1836–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 490/1 The secreting canals are..nail-shaped. 1844Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems 1889 I. 99 Look out, O Jehovah, to this I bring before Thee, With a hand nail-pierced. 1855Garrod Mat. Med. 152 The clove is a small, tapering, nail-like body. 1862W. Barnes Hwomely Rhymes I. 185 The nail-bestudded woaken door. 1900Baring-Gould Bk. Dartmoor 229 A mediæval dwelling,..with its oak, nail-studded door and its panelled walls.
▪ II. nail, v.|neɪl|
Forms: 1 (ᵹe)næᵹlan, 3 naȝȝlenn, neilen, 3–6 naylle(n), 4–7 nayle (5 naylyn); 3–4 naill(e, 3–7 naile, (5 nale), 4– nail.
[OE. næᵹlan = OS. neglian, MDu. naghelen, neghelen (Du. nagelen), OHG. nagalen, negilen (MHG. nagelen, negelen, G. nagelen), ON. negla (nagla; Sw. nagla, Da. nagle), Goth. (ga)nagljan, f. nagl- nail n.]
I.
1. trans. To fix or fasten (a person or thing) with nails on or to something else.
Early examples usually relate to the Crucifixion.
a. Const. on or upon.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 22 Cuoedon alle, ‘sie ahoen vel fæste ᵹenæᵹlad on rode’. c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 23 Heo swiðor cleopadun..‘Siæ næᵹled on rode’. a1225Ancr. R. 114 Godes honden weren ineiled oðe rode. a1300Cursor M. 14900 Til he was naild on þat tre. 1340Ayenb. 263 Iesu Crist..ynayled a rode. 1390Gower Conf. III. 183 His skyn was schape al meete, And nayled on the same seete. c1470Henry Wallace vii. 1153 On charnaill bandis [he] nald it full fast and sone. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xiii. 126 b, Two winges nayled vpon the target with two great yron nailes. 1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 161 Instead of Nailing the Hindges upon the Door, they Rivet them on. 1828D'Israeli Chas. I, I. vi. 157 The royal anathema was nailed on the Episcopal gate at London. 1847Tennyson Princ. ii. 188 Take my life, And nail me like a weasel on a grange For warning.
b. Const. to.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 21 His holie lichame was tospred on þe holie rode, and nailed þarto his fet and his honden. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 206/215 To grounde harde heo him caste..and to þe eorþe naileden him faste. Ibid. 222/96 Wiþ bole-huden stronge ynou ynailed þerto faste. a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxviii. 84 He was nailed to the tre. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxviii. (Bodl. MS.), The laþe is..nailed þwarte ouer to the rafters. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas i. (1558) fol. 30 It is meryer a man to go at large, Than with yrons to be nailed to a blocke. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §3 The fenbrede is a thyn borde pynned or nayled moste commonly to the lyft syde of the shethe. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 62 What dyd he, when he was nayled to the Crosse. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl., Disc. iv. iii. 63 By cutting off several of the parts of the Tree, and by Nailing many of the rest to the Wall. 1781Cowper Expost. 220 They..Seized fast his hand,..and nailed it to the tree. 1819Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 20 Hung [I] not here Nailed to this wall of eagle-baffling mountain. 1884Law Times Rep. LI. 161/2 An iron bracket nailed to the corner of the chimney.
refl.1829Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 39 Glory and success nailed themselves to the republican standards.
c. Used in similes denoting extreme fixity.
1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 72 They..sit as close as if they were nailed to the Horse. 1832Lytton Eugene A. i. ii, As steady on his seat as if he were nailed to it. 1866Meredith Vittoria xi, He called to his coach⁓man to drive away, next to wait as if nailed to the spot.
d. In allusive phrases, as to nail one's colours to the mast, to adopt an unyielding attitude; to nail to the counter, to expose as false or spurious (in allusion to the shopkeepers' practice of dealing thus with bad coins); to nail to the barn-door, to exhibit after the manner of dead vermin.
1842O. W. Holmes Med. Ess. Wks. 1891 IX. 67 A few familiar facts..have been suffered to pass current so long that it is time they should be nailed to the counter. 1844[see colour n. 7 d]. 1848Dickens Dombey v, Mrs. Chick had nailed her colours to the mast, and repeated ‘I know it isn't’. 1890Spectator 9 Aug., It was a good deed to nail all this to the counter. 1894N. & Q. 8th Ser. V. 130/2 There are two other uses of the word level which should be nailed to ‘N. & Q.'s’ barn door.
2. a. To pierce or drive through with a nail or nails. Now rare or Obs.
c1000Lambeth Ps. xxi. 17 Hi dulfon vel næᵹledun handa mine and fet mine. a1300Fall & Passion 67 in E.E.P. (1862) 14 Hi nailed him in hond an fete as ȝe mow al i-se. c1460Towneley Myst. xxvi. 416 Thrugh feete and handys nalyd was he. 1537Wriothesley Chron. (1875) II. 100 John Daye..had one of his eares nayled, for seditious wordes speakinge of the Quenes Highnes. 1615W. Hull Mirrour 87 Christ dyed being nayled hand and foote. 1671Milton Samson 990 Jael, who with inhospitable guile Smote Sisera sleeping through the Temples nail'd.
b. To fix or fasten with nails. Also with about, in, together, etc.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 564 Ðhre hundred elne was it long, Naild and sperd, ðig and strong. a1300Cursor M. 8242 A-boute þat tre a siluer cercle son naild he. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1645 And eek squyeres Nailinge the speres, and helmes bokelinge. c1386― Clerk's Prol. 29 He is now deed, and nayled in his chest. a1400–50Alexander 3376 If any Naue to it neȝe þat naylid is with iryn, Þen cleuys it ay to þe clife carryg & othyre. 14..MS. Linc. A. i. 17 f. 38 (Halliw.), At the nether ende of the pavisse he gart nayle a burde. 1495Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 155 For a c grete spykes of Iron for to nayle & fasteyn the seid plankes..at the dokke hedde. 1530Palsgr. 643/1 Nayle this same with thre or foure nayles and than it is sure. Ibid., I nayle in a thynge, je encloue. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 355 They built a little Bark, nailed with wooden pinnes. 1782Cowper Colubriad 1 Close by the threshold of a door nailed fast Three kittens sat. 1836Thirlwall Greece xii. II. 112 Casting metal statues, which before had been formed of pieces wrought with the hammer, and nailed together. 1855Delamer Kitch. Gard. (1861) 175 Nail fig⁓tree branches in their places on the wall. 1890Buckman Darke's Sojourn 68 The draught [was] prevented by a small tarpaulin nailed across the opening.
c. To stud with (or as with) nails; to mark by driving in a nail. rare.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 599 A sadel, Þat glemed ful gayly..Ay quere naylet ful nwe. c1483Caxton Dialogues 31 A gyrdle nayled With silver weyeng xl pens. 1648Sir R. Fanshawe tr. Past. Fido iii. ii. 91 Those Stars which nail Heav'ns pavement! 1695Act 6 & 7 Will. III, c. 10 §3 The..Commissioners shall..cause the said Keils and Boats so admeasured to be marked or nailed on each Side.
†d. Mil. (cf. 3 c). To render (a cannon) useless by driving a nail into the vent; to spike. Obs.
1598Barret Theor. Wars v. iv. 138 That the Ordinance be not nayled, nor the munition fiered. 1643True Informer E 1 b, Some of their Ordnance were naild by the Kings Troopes the next morning after. 1690J. Mackenzie Siege London-Derry 17/1 The rest attending the Lord Kingston till they had broke the Trunnions, and nailed the heavier Guns. 1705tr. Bosman's Guinea 28 Attempting to Fire upon the Enemy with our Cannon, I found them all nailed. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. iii. Wks. 1813 I. 175 The French..broke their troops, nailed part of their cannon [etc.]. 1781[see nailing vbl. n.].
e. intr. To work as a carpenter. (U.S.)
1885Whitman in N. Amer. Rev. CXLI. 434 ‘What did you do before you was a snatcher?’..‘Nailed’.
3. nail up:
a. To render fast, to close up firmly, by fixing with nails.
1530Palsgr. 643/1 You muste seke some other waye, for this doore is nayled up. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 12 Take heede of a doore or window..of any other mans into your Orchard: yea, though it be nailed vp. 1629Wadsworth Pilgr. iv. 34 The Vice Admirall..prepared himselfe for to fight,..nailing vp his decks. 1711Addison Spect. No. 110 ⁋5 The Door of one of his Chambers was nailed up. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle i, He..actually nailed up the board, and locked the door on the outside. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 199 The hotel..was nailed up and forsaken.
fig.1604T. M. Black Book Moral, That heauen is..made so fast, naylde vp with many a Starre.
b. To fasten up or affix at some elevation by means of nails; to fasten with nails to a wall, etc.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 192 Who, if he have sacrificed an Oxe, useth to naile up the head and hornes at his gate. 1867Smiles Huguenots Eng. iv. 83 This document was found nailed up on the Bishop of London's door. 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native v. vi. (1890) 347 He had spent the time in..nailing up creepers.
†c. Mil. = 2 d. Obs.
1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 385 Coming to their Batteries, they unhorst some of their Peeces, they nail'd up some others. 1690Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 37 They had also..burnt the town, took the fort and nailed up the guns. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 294 He ordered to nail up such of the Cannon as could be fought. 1763Scrafton Indostan iii. (1770) 65 The plan of operations was, to nail up the cannon, and push at the head quarters. 1781Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) s.v. Nailing, Vimercalus..made use of his invention first in nailing up the artillery of Sigismund Malatesta.
4. nail down (cf. 7), to fix down with nails; to fasten down the lid of (a box) in this way.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 64 They nail down Quoyners to the Fore-Trucks of heavy Guns. 1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 156 Nail it firmly down with two Brads into every Joyst. 1834Marryat P. Simple xlv, The trunks, which had been left open, were nailed down.
II.
5. a. To fix, fasten, make fast, as by means of nails; to secure. Now rare or Obs.
c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 1128 O noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence, Let noon humilitie your tonge naille. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 6266 And kan nat speke a worde ageyn; Meknes hath so her tonge nayled. 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 71, I am named syr Polydor; with darts fel nayled heer vnder I lodge. 1622J. Burough in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 130 Wherein if I finde any thinge worth your Jewell house I will..make means to nayle them untill you may take further order. 1697Congreve Mourn. Bride ii. vi, Rivet and nail me where I stand, ye Pow'rs. 1794Galloway Poems ii. 47 For behold the whole city was nailed fast asleep.
b. To clench, prove.
1785Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook i, Ev'n Ministers they hae been kenn'd..Great lies and nonsense baith to vend, And nail't wi' Scripture. 1902‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Feb. 431/2 Nailing an alibi where it can't be budged.
6. a. To fix (a person or thing) firmly to something; esp. to pin (one) to or on the ground, etc., with a weapon. Also in fig. contexts.
1590Pasquil's Apol. i. A iij b, Their attempt is still to nayle our best men to the wall with the speare of slaunder. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. Prol., A breast Nail'd to the earth with griefe. 1622Fletcher Sea-Voy. iii. i, Take you arrows, And nail these monsters to the earth! 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 101 To whose Fingers their Money is as it were glued and nailed. 1697Dryden æneid ix. 787 The second Shaft..pierc'd his Hand, and nail'd it to his side. 1835Lytton Rienzi i. i, Nailing him on the very sod where he had sate..not an hour ago. 1889J. M. Duncan Clin. Lect. Dis. Wom. xxviii. (ed. 4) 228 Concave hardness is felt fixing or nailing the womb..to the region between the plane of the left ischium [etc.].
b. To fix, or keep (one) fixed, to or in a certain place, position or occupation, so that there is no possibility of leaving it.
c1611Chapman Iliad xv. 140 This threat even nail'd him to his throne. 1624Donne Devot. 48 How shall they come to thee, whom thou hast nayled to their bedd? 1711Addison Spect. No. 92 ⁋6 Coquetilla begs me not to think of nailing Women upon their Knees with Manuals of Devotion. 1784Cowper Task i. 500 Those Whose headaches nail them to a noonday bed. 1791Bentham Panopt. 55 Supposing no sage regulations made by any body to nail them to this or that sort of work. 1828Lights & Shades II. 147 He is a shopman, and nailed all day behind the counter. 1861J. Ruffini Dr. Antonio xxi, Found poor Sir John nailed fast by a fit of the gout.
c. To fix or fasten (the eyes, mind, etc.) to or on the object of one's attention.
1591Lyly Wks. (1902) I. 424, I sawe an Oke, whose state⁓lines nayled mine eies to the branches. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 120 He nailed his eyes, as it were, on the face of Mr. Clinton. 1792Wolcot (P. Pindar) Captive Wks. III. 227 Where the pale pond'ring wretch, in thought profound, Nails to the murky floor his haggard eye. 1829Scott in Lockhart (1839) IX. 304, I cannot nail my mind to one subject of contemplation. 1860Emerson Cond. Life vi. Wks. (Bohn) II. 407 The man whose eyes are nailed not on the nature of his act, but on the wages.
†d. To pin (one's faith) to something. Obs.—1
1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. Ep. Rdr., They are cleane voyde of brayne, wit, and common sense, that nayle all their beliefe so fast to the sight of their bodily eyes.
7. a. To fix or pin (one) down to something.
1615Z. Boyd Let. in Zion's Flowers (1855) Introd. 30 The Gentlemen of Saumure have at last nailed me down to them, and resolved..that I shall..be their property. 1707Norris Treat. Humility iii. 104 Our bodies are as much nailed down to the earth by their own weight [etc.]. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 58 Wherefore has not gravity nailed them down to the surface of the Earth? 1880Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 182 You see plainly she was nailed down to write the thing. 1893G. Allen Scallywag i. 3 Isabel meant..to nail her down at once to the matter on hand.
refl.1864Burton Scot Abr. II. i. 122 Johnson nailed himself down to the hexameter and pentameter.
b. intr. To bind oneself down. rare—1.
1859Longfellow in Life (1891) II. 386 George comes on Wednesdays; but..I cannot nail down to that day.
8. slang.
a. To secure; to succeed in catching or getting hold of (a person or thing); to steal. Hence also, to arrest.
1760Foote Minor ii. Wks. 1799 I. 260 Some bidders are shy, and only advance with a nod; but I nail them. 1764― Patron i. ibid. I. 334 Bev. Fix the old fellow so that she may not be miss'd. Sir Pet. I'll nail him, I warrant. 1805Europ. Mag. XLVII. 355, I had learnt..to plume myself upon nailing a job. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., I nail'd the swell's montra in the push. 1847Thackeray Brighton in 1847 i. Wks. 1886 XXIV. 134 [He] insisted on nailing me for dinner before he would leave me. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii, Lubbers as..want to nail what is another's. 1889D. C. Murray Dang. Catspaw 245 We shall have to wait and nail them, sir, when we've proved complicity. 1918[see cut n.2 24 d]. 1931Amer. Speech VII. 111 They nailed me right on the border. 1969C. F. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 29 The cops..nail Ben for havin' the cup.
b. To catch (one) in some fix or difficulty.
1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xii, When they came to talk of places in town, you saw at once how I nailed them. 1810J. Creevey in C. Papers (1904) I. vi. 125 So now the Ministers are nail'd. 1845Ld. Campbell Chancellors xcv. (1857) IV. 309 The King and all the councillors were much tickled to see the wily chief Justice thus nailed.
†c. To cheat, get the better of (one). Obs.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Nail, to nail a person is to over-reach or take advantage of him in the course of trade or traffic. 1819Sporting Mag. IV. 209 He would undertake to ‘blind’, or ‘nail’ any keeper in the kingdom.
d. To succeed in hitting (a person).
1886Dowden Shelley I. i. 24 To surround ‘Mad Shelley’ and ‘nail’ him with a ball..was a favourite pastime.
Add:[1.] [d.] Also, to nail a lie (charge, etc.): to expose or put out of circulation (a falsehood, allegation, etc.).
[1624J. Gee Foot out of Snare v. 33 Heere is a knocking and long-lasting lie, worthy to be nailed upon a post or pillory.] 1895Funk's Stand. Dict. II. 1175/1 The phrase to nail a lie..was suggested by the nailing of counterfeit coins to the counter by shopkeepers. 1915E. Pound Let. 1 Dec. (1971) 66, I think however that the charge of my being jealous of Frost ought to be nailed, perhaps even at the disclosure of state secrets. 1987News on Sunday 12 July 3/3 The caring family man..has risked public ridicule in a bid to ‘nail the lie’ as he put it.
[8.] [d.] For def. read: To succeed in hitting, esp. with a punch or shot; to strike (a person, etc.) forcefully, put out of action. Freq. in Boxing. (Earlier and later examples.)
1785Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xxx, in Poems & Songs (1968) I. 84 I'll nail the self-conceited sot, As dead's a herrin. 1824Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 356 We say when we see a hare shot, that she's nail'd. 1889J. Nicholson Folk-Speech E. Yorks. 28 Jack Wilson lad brak oor windher wiv a cobble-steean, an Bob did nail him fo't. 1909Dialect Notes III. 351 Nail, to strike, hit. ‘I nailed him side o' the head.’ 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §342/6 Shoot,..nail. 1950J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 148 He..is in a position to be nailed on the chin. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. 24/3 Birkholm is careful to handle the snakes with his left hand... ‘If I do get nailed, I want to save my good arm.’ 1987Boxing News 21 Aug. 15/3 Ayala rallied courageously in the third, putting punches together as he nailed Espinoza with left hooks and rights.
e. Baseball. Of a fielder: to put (a runner) out. Hence more generally in Sport: to beat (an opponent); N. Amer. Football, to tackle or bring down (an opponent). Chiefly U.S.
1888N.Y. Press 18 Apr. 4/1 He nailed every man who tried to steal a base. 1908N.Y. Even. Jrnl. 20 Aug. 12/2 Donlin was pushed on home by McGraw, but it was too big an effort and he was nailed at the plate by a nose. 1959F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) xxv. 286 This was a good horserace with..a close finish with Trip coming from pretty far back to nail Louis B. Mayer's fine filly Honeymoon by a neck at the wire. 1974Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 13 Oct. C. 6/2 Quarterback Tom Clements was nailed for no gain on a rollout. 1987Touchdown Feb. 24/3 Banks led the club in tackles and has a knack of nailing the opposing runner in the backfield.
f. Usu. of a man: to have sexual intercourse with (freq. with implication of aggression); = screw v. 13 b. U.S.
1960J. Updike Rabbit, Run 45 It seems a great loss that it hadn't been him about to nail her. Feel her open up in the cavity of the car, her seaweed hair sprawling. 1973R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) i. 10 Everyone I knew wanted to nail her... She was something special. 1974J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage v. 106 I've always wanted to nail you in your mother's room. 1979R. Grossbach Never say Die viii. 80 Who would you rather marry, then—the publishing cupcake in the Florsheims who nailed you on the couch and then fired you? |