Word.ws English Dictionary

work like a nailer

work like a nailer verb: to work very hard.

Verb

work like a nailer (third-person singular simple present works like a nailer, present participle working like a nailer, simple past and past participle worked like a nailer)

  1. (dated, simile) To work very hard.
    • Boyce was working away like a nailer at His Grace's colt, an exertion he might have spared himself , but that it is necessary to do something for one's money1834 September, Craven, "Goodwood Races – Tuesday, July 29", The Sporting Magazine (London) s. 2, vol. 9, no. 53, p. 388
    • You might as well understand in the beginning that he'll have to work like a nailer for a good many years before he gets anywhere in the diplomatic service1918, George Barr McCutcheon, The City of Masks, New York: Dodd, Mead, page 191

Forms of work like a nailer

third-person singular presentworks like a nailer
present participleworking like a nailer
past participleworked like a nailer
pastworked like a nailer

Questions about work like a nailer

What does work like a nailer mean?
Work like a nailer means to work very hard.
What part of speech is work like a nailer?
Work like a nailer is a verb.
What is the past tense of work like a nailer?
The past tense of work like a nailer is worked like a nailer.

Words near work like a nailer in the dictionary

  1. work life
  2. work like a dog
  3. work like a dream
  4. work like a horse
  5. work like a mule
  6. work like a nailer
  7. work like a Trojan
  8. work management
  9. work marriage
  10. work marriages
  11. work nights

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: work like a nailer (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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