How to use nail in a sentence
40 example sentences · noun, verb
Nail means the horny plate or appendage at the ends of the digits of various animals, including most reptiles, birds, and mammals (both nonhuman and human). Example: “When I'm nervous I bite my nails.”
Examples of nail by meaning
nounThe thin, flat type of such a plate on the fingers and toes of humans, chimpanzees and some other primates.
- When I'm nervous I bite my nails.
nounA spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or...
- Yesterday my shirt got torn after I caught it on a nail.
verbTo fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
- He nailed the placard to the post.
verbTo drive a nail.
- He used the ax head for nailing.
verbTo catch.
- They're keeping low, I think, until they nail their man.1943 October 9, The Australian Women's Weekly, page 3, column 4
- 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
verbTo 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 July 6, Dan Milmo, quoting Mark Zuckerberg, “Zuckerberg uses Threads to say Twitter has missed its chance”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
verbTo 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.2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport
More sentences with nail
- Hammers are for knocking nails in, not for smashing my windows!From the entry for
- Hammer in that nail —What with? I didn't bring my set of tools.From the entry what
- We need to nail down this carpet so people don't keep tripping over it.From the entry down
- A wounded animal will fight tooth and nail; relentless, savage and murderous.From the entry fight
- Bobby used a hammer and nails to fix the two planks together.From the entry hammer
- I could tell she was anxious as she was biting her nails.From the entry anxious
- I need to get a grip of nails for my project.From the entry grip
- It is hard to get purchase on a nail without a pry bar or hammer.From the entry purchase
- He hit the nail on the head when he said the problem was the thermostat.From the entry hit the nail on the head
- Following the divorce and the lawsuit, bankruptcy is just another nail in his coffin.From the entry another nail in someone's coffin
- It was a real nail biter waiting for the test results.From the entry nail biter
- When Peter saw the nail poking up through his foot, he freaked out and started hyperventilating.From the entry freak out
- The right fielder nailed the runner at the plate with a perfect throw.From the entry right fielder
- After the hurricane, before law was restored, looters stole everything that wasn't nailed down.From the entry looter
- I said, never clip a dog's nails without a styptic pencil handy.From the entry styptic pencil
- I haven't had a guy in months, I really need a good nailing.From the entry nailing
- For a century, the two families fought tooth and nail over control of the land.From the entry tooth and nail
- I had to resole one of my boots after I stepped on a nail.From the entry resole
- Acral melanoma is a type of skin cancer that occurs on fingers, palms, soles, and nail beds.From the entry acral
- Airport security looked through her purse and confiscated her nail scissors.From the entry look through
- Eww, your hand looks nasty with that coke nail you got going on there.From the entry coke nail
- He tore his coat on the nail.From the entry tear
- I’ve got to break this habit I have of biting my nails. Can you break this habit of mine?From the entry break
- You drive nails into wood with any hammer; it's not as strenuous as driving a tunnel through the rock.From the entry drive
- When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.From the entry impact
- The nail is too loose—give it a hammer.From the entry hammer
- He needed a hammer, nails, screws, nuts, bolts and other assorted hardware, so he went to the hardware store.From the entry hardware
- Hold the picture while I bang in this nail.From the entry bang
- The splinter has buried itself under the nail.From the entry bury
- The nail left a deep gouge in the tire.From the entry gouge
- Can you fasten these boards together with some nails?From the entry fasten
Meaning of nail
- noun The horny plate or appendage at the ends of the digits of various animals, including most reptiles, birds, and mammals (both nonhuman and human).
- noun The thin, flat type of such a plate on the fingers and toes of humans, chimpanzees and some other primates.
- noun The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
Questions about nail in a sentence
- How do you use nail in a sentence?
- Nail is used as a noun and verb. For example: “When I'm nervous I bite my nails.”
- What is a short sentence with nail?
- “I really nailed that test.”
- What does nail mean?
- Nail means the horny plate or appendage at the ends of the digits of various animals, including most reptiles, birds, and mammals (both nonhuman and human).
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nail (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use nail in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/nail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.