different between nail vs clam

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?l, IPA^(key): /ne?l/, [ne???]
• Rhymes: -e?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næ?l, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz (compare Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian neil, Low German Nagel, Dutch nagel, German Nagel, Danish negl, Swedish nagel), from Proto-Indo-European *h?nog?- (“nail”) (compare Irish ionga, Latin unguis, Albanian nyell (“ankle, hard part of a limb”), Lithuanian nagas, Russian ????? (nogá, “foot, leg”), ??????? (nógot?, “nail”), Ancient Greek ???? (ónux), Persian ????? (nâxon), Sanskrit ?? (nakhá)).

Noun

nail (plural nails)

1. The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.

2. The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
3. The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
4. The claw of a bird or other animal.
5. 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.
6. A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
7. 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).

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• claw
• talon

Etymology 2

From Middle English naylen, from Old English næ?lan.

Verb

nail (third-person singular simple present nails, present participle nailing, simple past and past participle nailed)

1. (transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.

   Synonyms: pin, rivet, screw; see also Thesaurus:join

2. (intransitive) To drive a nail.

   Synonym: hammer

3. (transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.

   • The rivets of their arms were nail'd with gold.

4. (slang) To catch.

   Synonyms: arrest, collar, nick; see also Thesaurus:capture
5. (transitive, slang) To expose as a sham.
6. (transitive, slang) To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.

   Synonyms: ace, fullbring, fulfill

7. (transitive, slang) To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
8. (transitive, vulgar, slang) Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.

   Synonyms: dick, pound, rail, screw; see also Thesaurus:copulate with
9. To spike, as a cannon.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Crabb to this entry?)

10. (transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

    Synonyms: clinch, fix, lock down, pin down

Translations

See also

• Wikipedia disambiguation page on both meanings of nail
• Wikipedia disambiguation page on spike
• Nail in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• I-lan, INLA, Ilan, LNAI, Lain, Lani, Lian, Lina, Nila, anil, lain

Bouyei

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n?i??/

Etymology 1

Noun

nail

1. grandmother

Etymology 2

Noun

nail

1. snow
2. ice

Middle English

Noun

nail

1. Alternative form of nayl

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nai?l/

Noun

nail

1. Nasal mutation of dail.

Mutation

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klæm/
• (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [kle?m]
• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

From Middle English clam (“pincers, vice, clamp”), from Old English clamm (“bond, fetter, grip, grasp”), from Proto-Germanic *klamjan? (“press, squeeze together”). The sense “dollar” may allude to wampum.

Noun

clam (plural clams)

1. A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
2. Strong pincers or forceps.
3. A kind of vise, usually of wood.
4. (US, slang, chiefly in the plural) A dollar.

5. (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
6. (slang, vulgar) A vagina.
7. (informal) One who clams up; a taciturn person, one who refuses to speak.
9. (dated, US, slang) mouth (Now found mostly in the expression shut one's clam)

Derived terms

• bearded clam
• clambake
• clamshell
• clam chowder
• clam shack
• clam up
• happy as a clam

Translations

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

1. To dig for clams.

Translations

See also

• clammy

Etymology 2

Noun

clam (plural clams)

1. A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

1. To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

Etymology 3

From Middle English clammen (“to smear, bedaub”), from Old English cl?man (“to smear, bedaub”). Cognate with German klamm (“clammy”). See also clammy (“damp, cold and sticky”) and clem (“to adhere, stick, plug (a hole)”).

Adjective

clam (comparative clammer, superlative clammest)

1. (obsolete) clammy.
   • 1808, John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language:

     Ice is said to be clam, when beginning to melt with the sun or otherwise, and not easy to be slid upon.

Noun

clam

1. clamminess; moisture
   • 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History

     The clam of death.

Verb

clam (third-person singular simple present clams, present participle clamming, simple past and past participle clammed)

1. To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

   • A chilling sweat , a damp of jealousy,
     Hangs on my brows, and clams upon my limbs

2. To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.

Etymology 4

Noun

clam (plural clams)

1. (rowing) Alternative form of CLAM

Anagrams

• ALCM, CAML, Caml, Malc, calm

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?klam/
• Rhymes: -am

Noun

clam m (plural clams)

1. clamor

Synonyms

• clamor

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *?l-, zero-grade form of *?el- (“to hide, conceal”). Cognate to Latin c?l?.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /klam/, [k??ä??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /klam/, [kl?m]

Adverb

clam (not comparable)

1. clandestinely, secretly, privately
2. stealthily

Derived terms

• clancul?
• clanculum

Related terms

• clancul?rius
• clandest?n?
• clandest?nus

Preposition

clam (+ accusative, ablative)

1. (with accusative or, rarely, ablative) without the knowledge of, unknown to
   • 163 B.C.E. Terence, Heauton Timorumenos, Act II, Scene II:

     Neque ade? clam m? est.

     Nor indeed is it unknown to me.

References

• clam in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• clam in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• clam in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• clam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Old English

Alternative forms

• (NE dialects) cloam

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kl??m/

Noun

cl?m m

1. mud

Declension

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *klamos (“sick, leprous”). Cognate with Welsh claf (“sick, ill”).

Noun

clam m or f

1. leper

Usage notes

The noun's gender depends on the leper's gender. If the leper is male, it is masculine. If the leper is female, it is feminine.

Inflection

Descendants

• Middle Irish: clam

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “clam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language