nail file

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noun

a small file of metal or cardboard, for trimming, smoothing, or shaping the fingernails and sometimes having a point for removing dirt from under them.

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Origin of nail file

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Words nearby nail file

nail down, nailed-on, nail enamel, nailer, nailer joist, nail file, nailhead, nailing strip, nail in one's coffin, nail polish, nail scissors

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nail file in a sentence

The nail file and nail scissors must be used as often as possible.
The Complete Bachelor|Walter Germain
I had my nail file out and was touching up a cuticle, holding it out for inspection before I said anything.
The Misplaced Battleship|Harry Harrison (AKA Henry Maxwell Dempsey)
He flung himself down in a chair before his dressing-table and picked up a nail-file.
The Black Moth|Georgette Heyer
It was a dagger consisting of a sharpened nail file, about three inches long, driven into a roughly rounded piece of wood.
No Clue|James Hay

I havent seen it since she borrowed it, and Ive ruined my nail-file trying to open the box of cake mother sent.
The Girl from the Big Horn Country|Mary Ellen Chase

British Dictionary definitions for nail file

nailfile

/ (ˈneɪlˌfaɪl) /

noun

a small file, chiefly either of metal or of board coated with emery, used to trim the nails

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