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# fingernail

«fingernail» in Mova's school dictionary: **The hard thin layer that covers and protects the top of…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a fingernail, fingernails)

### meaning for a pupil

The hard thin layer that covers and protects the top of the tip of each finger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science, fingernails are made of keratin, the same stuff as hair and animal claws and horns; they keep growing, so we cut them. In hygiene lessons, germs and dirt hide under fingernails, so scrub them when washing hands and keep them short; biting nails spreads germs. Phrases: «cut your fingernails», «bite your fingernails», «under your fingernails», «hang on by your fingernails» (only just manage).

### examples

- Scrub under your fingernails when you wash your hands. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x1)
- Mum cut the baby's tiny fingernails. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x2)
- There was mud under my fingernails after gardening. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x3)
- Try not to bite your fingernails. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x4)
- Fingernails grow only about three millimetres a month. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x5)
- She painted her fingernails pink for the party. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x6)
- Fingernails are made of the same stuff as hair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x7)
- Scratching a blackboard with fingernails makes a horrible noise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/#x8)

### note

Countable; one word. Also simply «nail»; toes have «toenails». Myth: nails and hair do not keep growing after death. In maths problems, ten fingers means ten fingernails.

### In the corpora

- [Instead, a curtain of baleen plates hangs from the upper jaw, made of keratin, the same stuff as your fingernails.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/312-whales-by-kind-the-baleen-whales-blue-fin-humpback-grey-right-and-minke/1/)
- [Fingernails are cut following the curve and toenails straight across, with nail clippers or by an adult.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/8/)
- [Fingernails are cut following their curve, toenails straight across, so the corners do not grow into the skin.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/208-teeth-nails-baths-and-toilets/4/)
- [Fingernails are cut following their curve and toenails straight across, with nail clippers or by an adult.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/208-teeth-nails-baths-and-toilets/13/)
- [The plates are always moving, very slowly, about as fast as your fingernails grow, carried on the slowly flowing mantle below.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/42-plate-tectonics/1/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «fingernail» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fingernail/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.