nail-biting
Americannoun
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the act or practice of biting one's fingernails, especially as the result of anxiety or nervousness.
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Informal. nervousness.
The announcement that the trade agreement had been signed ended a week of nail-biting on Wall Street.
adjective
noun
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the act or habit of biting one's fingernails
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anxiety or tension
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( as modifier )
nail-biting suspense
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Other Word Forms
- nail-biter noun
Etymology
Origin of nail-biting
First recorded in 1890–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But underneath all the nail-biting is a solid foundation—Arsenal hasn’t climbed to the top of the league by accident.
Finn Russell converted and although he missed a penalty with the last kick of the game, Scotland closed out a nail-biting win.
From Barron's
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend breathed a sigh of relief after his side's nail-biting 26-23 win over Wales on Saturday kept them in the reckoning for the Six Nations championship.
From Barron's
“We’re all in that nail-biting, last-minute phase of, ‘Are we going to get these rooms booked or not?’ ” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
Nepal came within a nail-biting single ball of one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup history on Sunday when they lost to Harry Brook's England by four runs in Mumbai.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
