noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fingernail
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at finger, nail
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Nanocrystals are extremely small crystals, with millions or even billions able to fit on a fingernail.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
His miniature fingernail polish paintings of everyday objects — a purse, a lipstick tube, a stiletto — are equal parts playful and macabre.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
Ortiz says an Arlington police detective called him and asked what fingernail polish Cynthia had been wearing when she disappeared.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
When he was asked during those proceedings why he had her DNA under his right fingernail, he replied: "I never touched her, and there is no DNA."
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
When I said that, she took off her glasses and put down her pen, all calm, and started tapping her fingernail on the thick folder in front of her.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
He scraped the bottom of the pool with his fingernails and provided a few treatment tips of his own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
“Keeping the dirt under my fingernails with projects like this, and watching shows as often as I do, you realize how hard and how much creativity and magic there are around shows,” Lovett said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2026
The texture of the crest and the network of blood vessel channels inside it indicate that it was covered in keratin, the same material found in human fingernails.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026
Ireland were hanging on by their fingernails, before a second-half rally threatened to turn a cakewalk into a contest.
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
Doctors often skipped the step of scrupulously washing their hands and fingernails with soap and water before treating a wound or performing surgery.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
