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Nail vs Smash - What's the difference?

nail | smash |

In lang=en terms the difference between nail and smash

is that nail is to stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails while smash is to be destroyed by being smashed.

As nouns the difference between nail and smash

is that nail is the thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals while smash is the sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.

As verbs the difference between nail and smash

is that nail is to fix (an object) to another object using a nail while smash is to break (something brittle) violently.

nail

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) nail, nayl, (etyl) ).

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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.
  • *
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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 nail

    See also

    * claw * talon

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
  • He nailed the placard to the post.
  • To drive a nail.
  • He used the ax head for nailing .
  • To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
  • * Dryden
  • The rivets of your arms were nailed with gold.
  • (slang) To catch.
  • * 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
  • we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge;
  • (slang) To expose as a sham.
  • (slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
  • I really nailed that test.
  • (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 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.}}
  • (slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
  • 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
  • To spike, as a cannon.
  • (Crabb)
    Synonyms
    * (to engage in sexual intercourse) bang, fuck, pound, screw, shag (British)

    See also

    * (w) * (w) *

    Anagrams

    * * * * * ----

    smash

    English

    Noun

    (smashes)
  • The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.
  • I could hear the screech of the brakes, then the horrible smash of cars colliding.
  • (British, colloquial) A traffic accident.
  • The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash .
  • (colloquial, entertainment) Something very successful.
  • This new show of mine is sure to be a smash .
  • * 2012 , Tom Lamont, How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world'' (in ''The Daily Telegraph , 15 November 2012)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/mumford-sons-biggest-band-world]
  • Soundcheck for the band, today, takes place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It is late afternoon and while the arena's 17,000 outdoor seats are still empty the four members of Mumford & Sons – prospering British folk band, in the middle of a long tour of Australia, the US and the UK, their newly released album Babel a smash on all fronts – wander to centre stage.
  • (tennis) A very hard overhead shot hit sharply downward.
  • A smash may not be as pretty as a good half volley, but it can still win points.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=July 3 , author=Piers Newbury , title=Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=A Nadal forehand into the net gave Djokovic the set and the Spaniard appeared rattled, firing a smash over the baseline in a rare moment of promise at 30-30 at the start of the third.}}
  • (colloquial, archaic) bankruptcy
  • Synonyms

    * (sound of a violent impact ): crash * (colloquial: traffic accident ): crash * (colloquial: something very successful ): smash hit

    Verb

    (es)
  • To break (something brittle) violently.
  • * 1895 , , (The Time Machine) , Chapter X
  • Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.
  • To hit extremely hard.
  • (figuratively) To ruin completely and suddenly.
  • (figuratively) To defeat overwhelmingly.
  • (US) To deform through continuous pressure.
  • To be destroyed by being smashed.
  • (transitive, slang, vulgar, of a man) To have sexual intercourse with.
  • Synonyms

    * (break violently ): dash, shatter * (hit extremely hard ): pound, thump, wallop * (ruin completely and suddenly ): dash * (defeat overwhelmingly ): slaughter, trounce * (be destroyed by being smashed ): shatter

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----