fingernail
part of speech
noun (a fingernail, fingernails)
meaning for a pupil
The hard thin layer that covers and protects the top of the tip of each finger. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, fingernails are made of keratin, the same stuff as hair and animal claws and horns; they keep growing, so we cut them. In hygiene lessons, germs and dirt hide under fingernails, so scrub them when washing hands and keep them short; biting nails spreads germs. Phrases: «cut your fingernails», «bite your fingernails», «under your fingernails», «hang on by your fingernails» (only just manage).
examples
- Scrub under your fingernails when you wash your hands. tree →
- Mum cut the baby's tiny fingernails. tree →
- There was mud under my fingernails after gardening. tree →
- Try not to bite your fingernails. tree →
- Fingernails grow only about three millimetres a month. tree →
- She painted her fingernails pink for the party. tree →
- Fingernails are made of the same stuff as hair. tree →
- Scratching a blackboard with fingernails makes a horrible noise. tree →
note
Countable; one word. Also simply «nail»; toes have «toenails». Myth: nails and hair do not keep growing after death. In maths problems, ten fingers means ten fingernails.
In the corpora
- Instead, a curtain of baleen plates hangs from the upper jaw, made of keratin, the same stuff as your fingernails.
- Fingernails are cut following the curve and toenails straight across, with nail clippers or by an adult.
- Fingernails are cut following their curve, toenails straight across, so the corners do not grow into the skin.
- Fingernails are cut following their curve and toenails straight across, with nail clippers or by an adult.
- The plates are always moving, very slowly, about as fast as your fingernails grow, carried on the slowly flowing mantle below.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «fingernail» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.