nail-biting
Americannoun
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the act or practice of biting one's fingernails, especially as the result of anxiety or nervousness.
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Informal. nervousness.
The announcement that the trade agreement had been signed ended a week of nail-biting on Wall Street.
adjective
noun
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the act or habit of biting one's fingernails
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anxiety or tension
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( as modifier )
nail-biting suspense
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nail-biting
First recorded in 1890–95
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.
After a nail biting play-off final against Coventry at Wembley, the club secured a top flight turn for the first time since 1992 - and nine years since they were non-league.
From BBC • May 29, 2023
"It was a nail biting situation until I checked my bank account this morning," the 3D-printed seller from Central Ohio said, adding that Etsy is currently his only source of income.
From Reuters • Mar. 13, 2023
“That’s why there’s so much nail biting for the people in the administration who are pushing this policy,” said Mr. Gunson.
From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2022
“That's when the nail biting starts,” Hammel says.
From Scientific American • Sep. 22, 2021
Lockhart and Wilson, who wrote in Blackwood's, were Tories tooth and nail, biting and scratching for party.
From There's Pippins and Cheese to Come by Brooks, Charles S. (Charles Stephen)
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.
