1. [n]  a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener
2. [n]  horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits
3. [n]  a former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard
4. [v]  complete a pass, in football
5. [v]  take into custody, as of suspected criminals, by the police
6. [v]  attach something somewhere by means of nails; "nail the board onto the wall"
7. [v]  hit hard; "He smashed a 3-run homer"
8. [v]  locate exactly; "can you pinpoint the position of the enemy?"; "The chemists could not nail the identity of the chromosome"
9. [v]  succeed at easily; "She sailed through her exams"; "You will pass with flying colors"; "She nailed her astrophysics course"
10. [v]  succeed in obtaining a position; "He nailed down a spot at Harvard"

1. \Nail\, n. [AS. n[ae]gel, akin to D. nagel, OS ? OHG.
   nagal, G. nagel, Icel. nagl, nail (in sense 1), nagli nail
   (in sense 3), Sw. nagel nail (in senses 1 and 3), Dan. nagle,
   Goth. ganagljan to nail, Lith. nagas nail (in sense 1), Russ.
   nogote, L. unguis, Gr. ?, Skr. nakha. ?]
   1. (Anat.) the horny scale of plate of epidermis at the end
      of the fingers and toes of man and many apes.
   
            His nayles like a briddes claws were. --Chaucer.
   
   Note: The nails are strictly homologous with hoofs and claws.
         When compressed, curved, and pointed, they are called
         talons or claws, and the animal bearing them is said to
         be unguiculate; when they incase the extremities of the
         digits they are called hoofs, and the animal is
         ungulate.
   
   2. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of
          certain hemiptera.
      (b) The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and
          other allied birds.
   
   3. A slender, pointed piece of metal, usually with a head,
      used for fastening pieces of wood or other material
      together, by being driven into or through them.
   
   Note: The different sorts of nails are named either from the
         use to which they are applied, from their shape, from
         their size, or from some other characteristic, as
         shingle, floor, ship-carpenters', and horseshoe nails,
         roseheads, diamonds, fourpenny, tenpenny (see {Penny},
         a.), chiselpointed, cut, wrought, or wire nails, etc.
   
   
   
   4. A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or
      the sixteenth of a yard.
   
   {Nail ball} (Ordnance), a round projectile with an iron bolt
      protruding to prevent it from turning in the gun.
   
   {Nail plate}, iron in plates from which cut nails are made.
   
   
   {On the nail}, in hand; on the spot; immediately; without
      delay or time of credit; as, to pay money on the nail.
      ``You shall have ten thousand pounds on the nail.''
      --Beaconsfield.
   
   {To hit the nail on the head}, to hit most effectively; to do
      or say a thing in the right way.
   
   

2. \Nail\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Nailed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Nailing}.] [AS. n[ae]glian. See {Nail}, n.]
   1. To fasten with a nail or nails; to close up or secure by
      means of nails; as, to nail boards to the beams.
   
            He is now dead, and nailed in his chest. --Chaucer.
   
   2. To stud or boss with nails, or as with nails.
   
            The rivets of your arms were nailed with gold.
                                                  --Dryden.
   
   3. To fasten, as with a nail; to bind or hold, as to a
      bargain or to acquiescence in an argument or assertion;
      hence, to catch; to trap.
   
            When they came to talk of places in town, you saw at
            once how I nailed them.               --Goldsmith.
   
   4. To spike, as a cannon. [Obs.] --Crabb.
   
   {To nail} {a lie or an assertion}, etc., to detect and expose
      it, so as to put a stop to its currency; -- an expression
      probably derived from the former practice of shopkeepers,
      who were accustomed to nail bad or counterfeit pieces of
      money to the counter.
   
   

for fastening. (1.) Hebrew yathed, "piercing," a peg or nail of any material (Ezek. 15:3), more especially a tent-peg (Ex. 27:19; 35:18; 38:20), with one of which Jael (q.v.) pierced the temples of Sisera (Judg. 4:21, 22). This word is also used metaphorically (Zech. 10:4) for a prince or counsellor, just as "the battle-bow" represents a warrior.

(2.) Masmer, a "point," the usual word for a nail. The words of the wise are compared to "nails fastened by the masters of assemblies" (Eccl. 12:11, A.V.). The Revised Version reads, "as nails well fastened are the words of the masters," etc. Others (as Plumptre) read, "as nails fastened are the masters of assemblies" (comp. Isa. 22:23; Ezra 9:8). David prepared nails for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3; 2 Chr. 3:9). The nails by which our Lord was fixed to the cross are mentioned (John 20:25; Col. 2:14).

Nail of the finger (Heb. tsipporen, "scraping"). To "pare the nails" is in Deut. 21:12 (marg., "make," or "dress," or "suffer to grow") one of the signs of purification, separation from former heathenism (comp. Lev. 14:8; Num. 8:7). In Jer. 17:1 this word is rendered "point."