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wiggle nail

wiggle nail

9.6
A thin metal strip with sharp points that you hammer to join wooden boards
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : clavo ondulado
  • The carpenter hammered a wiggle nail across the joint to fasten the boards together.

Examples

  • We used several wiggle nails to quickly assemble the crates.

  • I need a few wiggle nails for this project.

  • He secured the wooden frame with a wiggle nail for extra support.

  • The carpenter uses wiggle nails to secure the wood.

  • The carpenter hammered a wiggle nail across the joint to fasten the boards together.

  • He secured the wooden frame with a wiggle nail for extra support.

  • We used several wiggle nails to quickly assemble the crates.

Synonyms

nail
vswiggle nail
184 1.0

A thin pointed piece of metal with a flat head used to hold things together

is a ridged strip hammered across joints rather than a single pointed piece
corrugated fastener
vswiggle nail
  • Jargon
8.9

A small wavy strip of metal with sharp points that joins and holds pieces of wood together

has identical meaning but stresses hammering across joints

Surface Forms

wiggle nail singular
wiggle nails plural

Morphology

wiggle + nail

The compounds 'wiggle' + 'nail' clearly signal a type of fastener (nail) and suggest motion or a particular installation action (wiggle), so a learner would guess it is a fastening item related to movement. However, the precise form—an elongated corrugated strip with sharp points hammered across joints—and the specific technical use are not directly derivable from the constituents, making the meaning only partially predictable.

Etymology

Wiggle nail is a thin metal strip with many sharp points that carpenters hammer across a joint. When the points bite in the strip seems to 'wiggle' into the wood, so the words wiggle and nail give a clear picture and help you remember it is used to 'fasten' boards together.