: a large-headed nail
—used chiefly in the phrase dead as a doornail
Examples of doornail in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Dead as a doornail.
—
David Gilbert, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2022
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were doornail and ordinal.
—Ashley Wu, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2022
The film itself seems to be Death's next target, dead as a doornail.
—Michael Lee Simpson, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2022
These phrases catch on, are picked up by a host of people, and quickly become trite or dead as a doornail (itself a cliché) as their originality and cleverness vanish into thin air (another cliché).
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2022
Biden’s critical race theory: racist, wrong and dead as a doornail.
—Luke Broadwater, New York Times, 16 May 2022
Old Marley was dead as a doornail, and so was the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, which up until the COVID-19 lockdown had transformed the Cow Palace exhibition hall into lamplit Victorian London.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. 2021
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David Gilbert, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2022
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were doornail and ordinal.
—Ashley Wu, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2022
The film itself seems to be Death's next target, dead as a doornail.
—Michael Lee Simpson, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2022
These phrases catch on, are picked up by a host of people, and quickly become trite or dead as a doornail (itself a cliché) as their originality and cleverness vanish into thin air (another cliché).
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2022
Biden’s critical race theory: racist, wrong and dead as a doornail.
—Luke Broadwater, New York Times, 16 May 2022
Old Marley was dead as a doornail, and so was the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, which up until the COVID-19 lockdown had transformed the Cow Palace exhibition hall into lamplit Victorian London.
—Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near doornail
Cite this Entry
“Doornail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doornail. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
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