On-the-nail Definition

adverb

(UK) Immediately, without delay.

"Tell me, have you a mind to anything in the Doctor's book? Speak the word, and I will help you to it upon the nail." --Thomas Nashe, Have With You To Saffron Walden (1596)
"You shall have ten thousand pounds on the nail." --Beaconsfield.
Wiktionary

Origin of On-the-nail

  • Allegedly from the tradition of striking bargains by placing cash on the nails in Bristol. The Oxford English Dictionary however cites a Anglo-Norman phrase from c. 1360, "payer sur le ungle" to pay on the (finger)nail, meaning "to pay immediately and in full", and quotes parallel usages from 17th century French, Dutch and German sources. It adds that "N.E.D. (1906) notes that: ‘the explanations associating it with certain pillars at the Exchange of Limerick or Bristol are too late to be of any authority in deciding the question’."

    From Wiktionary

On-the-nail Sentence Examples

  • Children who suck their thumbs or other fingers may also develop candidiasis around their fingernails, causing redness on the nail edges.

  • I like to do nail art on acrylic instead of natural nails because it stays on the nail longer.

  • Silver stripes with a background painted in today's popular deep dark reds and purples can look amazing, as can clear nail polish with shimmering designs placed strategically on the nail.

  • Most often, toenail fungus begins with a small yellow or white spot on the nail bed.

  • Continue treatment until fungus has grown out on the nail bed, and clip off remaining nail.

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Words Starting With

OON

Words Ending With

LILAIL

Unscrambles

on-the-nail

Words Starting With O and Ending With L

Starts With O & Ends With LStarts With ON & Ends With LStarts With O & Ends With IL

Word Length

11 Letter Words11 Letter Words Starting With O11 Letter Words Ending With L