Nail vs Bail - What's the difference?
nail | bail |
The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
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.
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A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside .
An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 1/20th of an ell or 1/16th of a yard (2.25 inches or 5.715 cm).
To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
To drive a nail.
To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
* Dryden
(slang) To catch.
* 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
(slang) To expose as a sham.
(slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
(slang) To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=October 1
, author=Tom Fordyce
, title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland
, work=BBC Sport
(slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
To spike, as a cannon.
Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
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(legal, UK) Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
(legal, UK) The person providing such payment.
A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
* Captain Cook
(obsolete) Custody; keeping.
* Spenser
To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
* '>citation
(legal) To release a person under such guarantee.
(legal) To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.
(nautical) To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.
* Capt. J. Smith
(nautical) To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.
* R. H. Dana, Jr.
To set free; to deliver; to release.
* Spenser
(slang) To exit quickly.
* 2010 September, Jeannette Cooperman, "Bringing It Home", , ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 62:
(informal) To fail to meet a commitment.
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A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket) .
* 2010 , John M. Findley, Just Lucky ,
A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop) .
* 1953 , British Institute of Management, Centre for Farm Management, Farm Management Association, Farm Managememt , 1960, John Wiley,
* 2011 , Edith H. Whetham, Joan Thirsk, The Agrarian History of England and Wales , Volume 8: Volumes 1914-1939,
A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
(chiefly, Australia, and, New Zealand) A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
* 2011 , Bob Ellis, Hush Now, Don't Cry ,
A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
(cricket) One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
(furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail, as the wire bail handle shown in the drawing.
(rare) To confine.
(Australia, New Zealand) To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
(Australia, New Zealand) To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up. (Usually with (up).)
* 2006 , Clive James, North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 128:
As a noun nail
is the thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.As a verb nail
is to fix (an object) to another object using a nail.As a conjunction bail is
.nail
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) nail, nayl, (etyl) ).Noun
(en noun)- Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
Derived terms
* eightpenny nail * fourpenny nail * hangnail * hard as nails * hit the nail on the head * (l) * nail file / nail-file / nailfile * nail polish * (l) * (l) * on the nail * fingernail * rusty nail * sixpenny nail * spit nails * straw nail * tenpenny nail * toenail * twelvepenny nailSee also
* claw * talonEtymology 2
From (etyl)Verb
(en verb)- He nailed the placard to the post.
- He used the ax head for nailing .
- The rivets of your arms were nailed with gold.
- we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge;
- I really nailed that test.
citation, page= , passage=Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson departed early with injury but Chris Paterson nailed a penalty from wide out left to give Scotland an early lead, and Jackson's replacement Dan Parks added three more points with a penalty which skimmed over the crossbar.}}
- There’s a benefit gala at the Boston Pops tonight, and... well, I’m trying to nail the flautist.'' - Brian Griffin in the TV series ''Family Guy
- (Crabb)
Synonyms
* (to engage in sexual intercourse) bang, fuck, pound, screw, shag (British)See also
* (w) * (w) *Anagrams
* * * * * ----bail
English
(wikipedia bail)Etymology 1
From the (etyl) verb .Noun
(en noun)- The bail of a canoe made of a human skull.
- Silly Faunus now within their bail .
Derived terms
* jump bail * out on bailVerb
(en verb)- to bail''' cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to '''bail goods to a carrier
- to bail water out of a boat
- buckets to bail out the water
- to bail a boat
- By the help of a small bucket and our hats we bailed her out.
- Ne none there was to rescue her, ne none to bail .
Derived terms
* bailment * bailor * bailee * bail outEtymology 2
From a shortening of bail out, which from above.Verb
(en verb)- With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail .
- The Teacher Home Visit Program takes a huge commitment—time, energy, patience, diplomacy. Quite a few schools have tried it and bailed .
Etymology 3
From (etyl) beyl, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)page 78,
- I reached across beneath the cow to attach a metal bail' to each end of the strap so that the '''bail''' hung about 5 inches below the cow's belly.While stroking and talking to the cow, I reached under and suspended the machine on the ' bail beneath the cow, with its four suction cups dangling to one side.
page 160,
- More recently, the fixed bail , sometimes called the ‘milking parlour’, with either covered or open yards, has had a certain vogue and some very enthusiastic claims have been made for this method of housing.
page 191,
- Ten men thus sufficed for the milking of three hundred cows in five bails , instead of the thirty men who would normally have been employed by conventional methods.
page 153,
- But until he had poured enough milk into the vat above the separator, I drove unmilked cows into the bail' where he had previously milked and released one. He moved from one '''bail''' to the other to milk the next one I had readied. I drove each cow into the empty ' bail , chained her in, roped the outer hind leg then washed and massaged the udder and teats.
Etymology 4
From (etyl) baillier.Verb
(en verb)- The transition over the rooftop would have been quicker if Sellers had not been bailed up by a particularly hostile spiritual presence speaking Swedish.