doornail

[ dawr-neyl, dohr- ]

noun

1. a large-headed nail formerly used for strengthening or ornamenting doors.

doornail

/ ˈdɔːˌneɪl /

noun

1. (as) dead as a doornail
   dead beyond any doubt

Word History and Origins

Origin of doornail¹

First recorded in 1300–50, doornail is from the Middle English word dornail. See door, nail

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. dead as a doornail, stone-dead:

   After midnight, the town is dead as a doornail.

More idioms and phrases containing doornail

see dead as a doornail .

Example Sentences

The atmosphere in the O2 was as dead as a doornail hammered into a Dodo and buried in a concrete bunker.

From BBC

“The 1.5 degree limit is deader than a doornail,” said Dr. Hansen, now the director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program at Columbia University, during a news conference on Thursday.

From New York Times

Longtime political consultant Garry South told me he thinks Caruso is “dead as a doornail,” and the story on Bass and her scholarship “certainly won’t cost her the election.”

From Los Angeles Times

"When they opened that coffin, there he was, dead as a doornail."

From Fox News

“Well let’s just hope that it was Cluny. Personally, I’d like to think that he’s lying somewhere down there now, dead as a doornail.”

From Literature