toenail

[ toh-neyl ]

/ ˈtoʊˌneɪl /

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noun

a nail of a toe.

Carpentry. a nail driven obliquely.

Printing Slang. a parenthesis.

verb (used with object)

Carpentry. to secure with oblique nailing.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of toenail

First recorded in 1835–45; toe + nail

Words nearby toenail

toe dance, TOEFL, toehold, toe-in, toe loop, toenail, toe-out, toe pick, toepiece, toerag, To err is human, to forgive divine

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use toenail in a sentence

She looked down at her purple toenails and tensed her body, raising her left heel off its footrest for a half-second.
Two kids, a loaded gun and the man who left a 4-year-old to die|John Woodrow Cox|September 27, 2021|Washington Post
I knew I’d end the summer with fewer toenails than I’d started with.
How a Plus-Size Hiker Found Her Footing on the Trail|syadron|August 22, 2021|Outside Online
Aardvarks Clipping Extraneous Toenails, Having Extremely Orgasmic Relations, Yearly!
Style Invitational Week 1447: Give it to us straight|Pat Myers|July 29, 2021|Washington Post
Just keep in mind that melanoma tends to show up in hard-to-find areas on darker skin, like under hands and feet, inside the nose and mouth, and under fingernails and toenails.
Keep Dark Skin Safe in the Sun|Steven Psyllos|June 25, 2021|Essence.com

If you ever put your hands on me again, I'm gonna snip your little nuts off with my toenail clippers!
Jenny Lewis on 'The Voyager,' the End of Rilo Kiley, and High School Classmate Angelina Jolie|Marlow Stern|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yesterday, Ezra Klein reported the strange case of a hospital that charged $1,206 to clip a toenail.
Somebody Has to Drive Down Healthcare Costs|David Frum|April 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She takes care of our elderly in the neighborhood, if someone has toenail they can't clip, she'll do that for them.
TV's New Mystery Woman|Rachel Syme|March 19, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Now winter was a dull inaction, a period of discontent, in which thought gnawed at him like an ingrowing toenail.
Poor Man's Rock|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Foot-ball produces what may be called the endogenous or ingrowing toenail, stringhalt and mania.
A Guest at the Ludlow and Other Stories|Edgar Wilson (Bill) Nye
So the horse stands on the end of his middle toe, and his hind hoof is his middle toenail.
Natural Wonders|Edwin Tenney Brewster
A toenail, particularly twisted, has been traced through three generations, on the same foot and toe.
Observations on Madness and Melancholy|John Haslam
She complained exceedingly and for a long time about the thickening of a toenail, even after the thickened part had been removed.
Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology|C. G. Jung

British Dictionary definitions for toenail

toenail

/ (ˈtəʊˌneɪl) /

noun

a thin horny translucent plate covering part of the dorsal surface of the end joint of each toeRelated adjectives: ungual, ungular

carpentry a nail driven obliquely, as in joining one beam at right angles to another

printing slang a parenthesis

verb

(tr) carpentry to join (beams) by driving nails obliquely

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