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hangnail

[ hang-neyl ]

noun

  1. a small piece of partly detached skin at the side or base of the fingernail.


hangnail

/ ˈhæŋˌneɪl /

noun

  1. a piece of skin torn away from, but still attached to, the base or side of a fingernail
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of hangnail1

1300–50; Middle English angenayle corn, Old English angnægl, equivalent to ang- (variant of enge narrow, painful; cognate with German eng, anger ) + nægl callus, nail; modern h- by association with hang
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hangnail1

C17: from Old English angnægl, from enge tight + nægl nail ; influenced by hang
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Example Sentences

He said in an audible tone that the New Yorker was a human hangnail, no matter where he was born.

But it did matter to me that I had to dine on this hangnail pared from a sheep.

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hangman's knothang-on