toenail

[ toh-neyl ]

/ ˈtoʊˌneɪl /

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.

Nearby words

toebie, toecap, toed, toefl, toehold, toenail, toepiece, toerag, toeshoe, toetoe, toey

Origin of toenail

First recorded in 1835–45; toe + nail

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for toenail

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
They threw themselves upon the beach and clung "tooth and toenail" when the breaker receded.
Navy Boys Behind the Big Guns|Halsey Davidson

Cut all corner posts exactly the same length, toenail at corners to sill, and hold in position by temporary braces.
Carpentry and Woodwork|Edwin W. Foster
So Scraggs, mustering his courage, flew at poor Hicks tooth and toenail.
Captain Scraggs|Peter B. Kyne
From a knife to a toenail, they was nothing that Levine couldn't use in a fight.
Gunman's Reckoning|Max Brand
A toenail, particularly twisted, has been traced through three generations, on the same foot and toe.
Observations on Madness and Melancholy|John Haslam

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

Medicine definitions for toenail

toenail

[ tō′nāl′ ]

n.

The thin, horny, transparent plate covering the upper surface of the end of a toe.