The claw of a bird or other animal.
A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
An archaic English unit of length equivalent to ¹⁄₂₀ of an ell or ¹⁄₁₆ of a yard (2+¹⁄₄ inches or 5.715 cm).
The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
To expose as a sham.
To catch.
Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
To spike, as a cannon.
To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
To drive a nail.
To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.
The slender shaft of the plumage of certain birds.
Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings.
A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
A knitting needle.
Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
A telecommunication wire or cable.
An electric telegraph; a telegram.
A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
A fence made of usually barbed wire.
A deadline or critical endpoint.
A metal conductor that carries electricity.
A finish line of a racetrack.
A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game.
To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph.
To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.
To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way.
To string on a wire.
To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.
To snare by means of a wire or wires.
To install eavesdropping equipment.
To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired.
To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is plugged in (to that thing) (“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”) or has insinuated itself into (the thing).
To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).
To equip with wires for use with electricity.