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:
She loved to tell the fingernail story, but 9 To 5 has another legacy - for its powerful statements about working life and women's place in the corporate world.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
At the August hearing, McCaslin said she wants to decide other evidentiary issues, including whether the defense will be allowed to test DNA found under Maggie’s fingernail with new genetic-genealogy techniques.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 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
He split one in two with his fingernail and baited their fishing lines.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
His fingernails, seen up close, are relatively clean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
The Gofar fault is a deep underwater fracture where the Pacific and Nazca tectonic plates slide past one another at roughly 140 millimeters per year, about as fast as fingernails grow.
From Science Daily ● May 16, 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
He paints his fingernails and is no stranger to samba dancing in the finish area, wanting to bring more colour to alpine skiing.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
My fingernails digging into my palms begin to sting.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
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.
