noun
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a thin horny translucent plate covering part of the dorsal surface of the end joint of each toe
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carpentry a nail driven obliquely, as in joining one beam at right angles to another
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slang printing a parenthesis
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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toenailsimple
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toenailssimple
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have toenailedperfect
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has toenailedperfect
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am toenailingprogressive
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are toenailingprogressive
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is toenailingprogressive
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have been toenailingperfect progressive
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has been toenailingperfect progressive
Past
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toenailedsimple
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had toenailedperfect
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was toenailingprogressive
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were toenailingprogressive
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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
Every muscle, every toenail, every metallic surface offers sharply focused detail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Artists Mario Ayala and Mia Carucci were captured together, hanging across the wall from singer Kelsey Lu, barefoot with black toenail polish on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 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
She examines them sternly, going down the line, just as a gnat, attracted by the lotion perfuming her legs, lands on her big toenail and gets stuck.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Then the dusty elephant with those arched and dome-like toenails that is standing on my breastbone is lighter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Patients are being warned not to clog up A&E with everyday niggles as NHS figures show thousands turned to hospitals for minor ailments such as hiccups and ingrowing toenails last winter.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
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
But I still had filth under my toenails for weeks.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2024
Nina has the teeniest fingers and the tiniest toenails and the cutest little upturned nose.
From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy
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
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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.
