hit the nail on the head, to

hit the nail (right) on the head

 1. Lit. to strike a nail precisely on the head with a hammer. If you expect to drive a nail straight, you have to hit the nail on the head. 2. Fig. to do exactly the right thing; to do something in the most effective and efficient way. You've spotted the flaw, Sally. You hit the nail on the head. Bob doesn't say much, but every now and then he hits the nail right on the head.See also: head, hit, nail, on

hit the nail on the head

If you hit the nail on the head, you describe a situation or problem exactly. Duncan Smith hit the nail on the head when he said that the Prime Minister promised so much and yet changed so little. I agree with Dr Carey in everything he says. I think he's hit the nail right on the head. Note: You can also say that someone hits something on the nail, meaning that they describe a situation or problem exactly. `It sounds as if he almost depended on you as much as you depended on him.' — `You just hit it on the nail.'See also: head, hit, nail, on

hit the nail on the head

state the truth exactly; find exactly the right answer. 1998 Spectator Yet his conceit and knack of hitting nails on heads meant that even his best performances made him as many enemies as friends. See also: head, hit, nail, on

hit the nail on the ˈhead

(informal) say something that is exactly right: ‘So you want to move to another department.’ ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly what I want.’ OPPOSITE: be/fall wide of the markSee also: head, hit, nail, on

hit the nail on the head

To be absolutely right.See also: head, hit, nail, on

hit the nail on the head, to

To say or do exactly the right thing. This analogy dates from the early sixteenth century and has counterparts in numerous languages. It was a cliché by the time Henry David Thoreau used it in AWeek on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849): “He will hit the nail on the head, and we shall not know the shape of the hammer.”See also: hit, nail, on