transcription, транскрипция: [ neɪl ]
( nails, nailing, nailed)
1.
A nail is a thin piece of metal with one pointed end and one flat end. You hit the flat end with a hammer in order to push the nail into something such as a wall.
A mirror hung on a nail above the washstand...
N-COUNT
2.
If you nail something somewhere, you fix it there using one or more nails.
Frank put the first plank down and nailed it in place...
They nail shut the front door...
VERB : V n prep / adv , V n with adj
3.
Your nails are the thin hard parts that grow at the ends of your fingers and toes.
Keep your nails short and your hands clean.
N-COUNT : usu poss N in pl
4.
To nail someone means to catch them and prove that they have been breaking the law. ( INFORMAL )
The prosecution still managed to nail him for robberies at the homes of leading industrialists.
VERB : V n
5.
If you say that someone is as hard as nails , you mean that they are extremely tough and aggressive, either physically or in their attitude towards other people or other situations.
He’s a shrewd businessman and hard as nails...
PHRASE : v-link PHR
6.
If you say that someone has hit the nail on the head , you think they are exactly right about something.
‘I think it would civilize people a bit more if they had decent conditions.’—‘I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.’
PHRASE : V inflects
7.
a nail in the coffin: see coffin
to fight tooth and nail: see tooth