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nailbrush

American

[nayl-bruhsh] / ˈneɪlˌbrʌʃ /

noun

a small brush with stiff bristles, used to clean the fingernails.

nailbrush British

/ ˈneɪlˌbrʌʃ /

noun

a small stiff-bristled brush for cleaning the fingernails

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nailbrush

First recorded in 1795–1805; nail + brush ¹

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:

nailbrush

Tom Hanks takes on the role of Disney, with a nailbrush moustache and unexpectedly gentle charm, his upbeat American optimism making Mrs Travers fit to burst with outrage in her buttoned-up tweed suit.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2013

But this was not one of those nailbrush moustaches, all short and clipped and bristly.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

His aphorism was, "Gentlemen, the secret of surgery is the nailbrush."

From A Labrador Doctor The Autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell by Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

He is a lean old soldier of the Empire, with a white moustache, kept short and stiff like a nailbrush.

From Two Summers in Guyenne by Edward Harrison Barker

"Confounded little snob," John thought, and began to look for his nailbrush, the address of whose palatial residence of pigskin only Maud knew.

From Poor Relations by Compton MacKenzie

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023