bite one's nails

Idioms and Phrases

Exhibit signs of anxiety, impatience, or nervousness, as in We'll be biting our nails till the jury comes back . Biting one's fingernails is a time-honored sign of emotional tension. The Roman satirist Horace described it about 35 b.c. : “As he wrought his verse he would often ... gnaw his nails to the quick” ( Satires , Book 1).

Example Sentences

The habits range from the queer desire to bite one's nails to the quick that is so common in children and which persists in the psychasthenic adult, to the odd grimaces and facial contortions, blinking eyes and cracking joints of the inveterate ticquer.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoy
• bother
• depress
• disturb
• fret
• irritate
• perturb
• plague
• trouble
• try
• unsettle
• upset