How to Use fingernail in a Sentence

fingernail

noun
  • I trimmed and filed my fingernails.
  • He had dirt under his fingernails.
  • Use your fingernail or a knife to scratch the bark on a twig or a branch.
    Steve Bender, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2021
  • First, there is the implant, which is the size of a fingernail.
    Charlie Fink, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Nor was a sore fingernail that led him to wear a glove in warm-ups.
    Dallas News, 22 Oct. 2022
  • But take your fingernail and scratch the bark from the tree and a pale green line appears.
    BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2021
  • The rind should be so tough that your fingernail cannot dent it.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Nudge off any stuck-on bits with your fingernail and buff the screen dry.
    Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping, 27 Feb. 2023
  • To access the sweet fruit of the lychee, pierce the fruit with your fingernail then peel back the skin and squeeze out the fruit.
    Ashley Martens, Redbook, 15 Apr. 2023
  • But, like our fingernails, horns get a lot of day-to-day use.
    Anna Nordseth, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2023
  • His fingernails were long and curved and ridged with dirt.
    Ellen Barry, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2024
  • To tell whether a branch is dead, gently nick the bark with your fingernail or the back of a pruner’s blade.
    chicagotribune.com, 17 Apr. 2022
  • The girl said the teacher had grabbed her arm and left marks on it from her fingernails.
    cleveland, 21 Nov. 2019
  • Starting with your pinky finger, apply glue to the back of the nail and the top of your fingernail.
    Jessica Ourisman, Good Housekeeping, 24 July 2019
  • If this happens, use your fingernail or a small spoon to get the peanut out.
    Matt and Ted Lee, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2023
  • The righthander’s start had been pushed back a day because pf a cracked fingernail.
    Bernie Wilson, BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2023
  • Wash the site with soapy water and remove the stinger with gauze or a fingernail.
    Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 21 July 2024
  • The Tories lost two of them, while hanging on by their fingernails in the third.
    The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 July 2023
  • Flick the barb off with your fingernail or a credit card.
    Mayo Clinic Q & A, chicagotribune.com, 21 Nov. 2019
  • This will make the wax bits brittle and easy to nudge off with a dull knife or even just your fingernail.
    Carolyn Forte, Good Housekeeping, 24 Dec. 2018
  • Watch out for those fingernails when putting this cap on.
    Nneya Richards, Travel + Leisure, 21 Mar. 2023
  • These cherries were about the size of a fingernail, and mostly pit.
    Ian Knauer, WSJ, 27 July 2022
  • Those are races that could be decided by the length of a fingernail.
    Washington Post, 16 June 2021
  • Then, work your fingernail under the edge of the film of glue and carefully peel it off.
    Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 24 June 2019
  • Which means: Aztecs fans have no hair, fingernails or nerves left.
    Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2024
  • One mini-ingot the size of a fingernail yields 200 sheets of gold leaf about an inch square.
    Paul Salopek, History & Culture, 4 Dec. 2020
  • The qubit processor is about as wide as the thickness of a fingernail.
    Katherine Wright, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2023
  • Gonzo was clean: clean fingernails, clean-shaven, clean white shirt.
    Martín Espada, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023
  • Plus, the medical examiner found his DNA under her fingernails, which earns him an arrest right there on his patio.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 3 Oct. 2024
  • The entire process from beginning to end for a CND Vinylux manicure should take less than 10 minutes, providing a glossy, gel-like finish over fingernails, toenails, and even holiday nail art.
    Lauren Finney Harden, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fingernail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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