Word.ws English Dictionary

drive a nail where it will go

drive a nail where it will go verb: to take a pragmatic or expedient approach, rather than the ideal.

Verb

drive a nail where it will go (third-person singular simple present drives a nail where it will go, present participle driving a nail where it will go, simple past drove a nail where it would go, past participle driven a nail where it would go)

  1. (archaic) To take a pragmatic or expedient approach, rather than the ideal.
    • "Well, I think East is right," said Arthur; "I can't see but what it's right to do the best you can, though it mayn't be the best absolutely. Every man isn't born to be a martyr."
      "Of course, of course," said East; "but he's on one of his pet hobbies. — How often have I told you, Tom, that you must...1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days

Forms of drive a nail where it will go

third-person singular presentdrives a nail where it will go
present participledriving a nail where it will go
pastdrove a nail where it would go
past participledriven a nail where it would go

Questions about drive a nail where it will go

What does drive a nail where it will go mean?
Drive a nail where it will go means to take a pragmatic or expedient approach, rather than the ideal.
What part of speech is drive a nail where it will go?
Drive a nail where it will go is a verb.
What is the past tense of drive a nail where it will go?
The past tense of drive a nail where it will go is drove a nail where it would go.

Words near drive a nail where it will go in the dictionary

  1. drive
  2. drive a coach and horses through
  3. drive a coach and six through
  4. drive a hard bargain
  5. drive a nail in someone's coffin
  6. drive a nail where it will go
  7. drive a stake through its heart
  8. drive a truck through something
  9. drive a wedge
  10. drive at
  11. drive away

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drive a nail where it will go (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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