doornail
8
9.9
- noun
- /ˈdɔrnˌeɪl/
- Archaic
:
clavo de puerta
- In many historic buildings, you can still see doornails that were used to fasten doors.
- dead as a doornail
Examples
-
The craftsman replaced the rusty doornails with new ones to restore the antique door.
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The old door was decorated with large doornails that added to its charm.
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- Dead as a doornail in three years.
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Dead as a doornail at last.
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Last time I saw him he was dead as a doornail.
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My agent told me it was dead as a doornail.
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Today it appears as dead as a doornail.
Academic text (1991) -
Nonetheless, for purposes of my own, Max is as dead as a doornail.
Fiction book (2000) -
She's dead... as a doornail, my friend.
-
Just like they know that communism has failed; it's dead as a doornail.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
184
1.0
A thin pointed piece of metal with a flat head used to hold things together
A short nail with a large flat head to fasten thin metal to wood
Idioms
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Doornail is just the common words door and nail joined together, and it names a large, heavy nail used to fasten or decorate old doors. A helpful way to remember it is the old phrase 'dead as a doornail', because these nails were often hammered flat and no longer useful, which fits the word's literal meaning.