noun
-
a thin horny translucent plate covering part of the dorsal surface of the end joint of each toe
-
carpentry a nail driven obliquely, as in joining one beam at right angles to another
-
slang printing a parenthesis
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
toenailsimple
-
toenailssimple
-
have toenailedperfect
-
has toenailedperfect
-
am toenailingprogressive
-
are toenailingprogressive
-
is toenailingprogressive
-
have been toenailingperfect progressive
-
has been toenailingperfect progressive
Past
-
toenailedsimple
-
had toenailedperfect
-
was toenailingprogressive
-
were toenailingprogressive
-
had been toenailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of toenail
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:
One of the faces looked very similar, but when she looked more closely, the toenail polish didn't match.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Blood was also seeping from the Italian's shoe during a must-win fourth set, which he later explained was caused by a problematic toenail.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Every muscle, every toenail, every metallic surface offers sharply focused detail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Since Carrie has been married — been there, done that — one would think she wouldn’t be in a hurry to sweep up some other dude’s thickened toenail clippings.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2025
Her big toenail had turned an interesting green-black and fallen off.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Its centrepiece is the mixed media sculpture of Martin the mammoth, which has ceramic yellow toenails and a latex tongue.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
She trims their toenails with a repurposed woodworking tool, styles their fur with a $600 dog blow dryer and clips their coats with $1,000 scissors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
A Peruvian politician who had one of her advisers cut her toenails in parliament could be facing the boot.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
He sports a thick ponytail and cargo pants, painted toenails poking out from his hiking sandals.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
She kept her nails short so bread dough wouldn’t stick under them when she kneaded it, but she always painted them a deep red to match her toenails.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Studding, 20-foot 2 × 8s, placed 3 feet on center and toenailed to sill.
From Economy of the Round Dairy Barn by Wilber John Fraser
He had used regular 16-penny nails toenailing these thick timbers together.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
