Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to steal; to rob.

1732		Proc. Old Bailey 11 Oct. 228/1: I have nail’d a Watch, and I shall make my self for ever, if I can find any Body that I can trust to dispose of it for me.
1747		Life and Character of Moll King 12: My Blos has nailed me of mine [handkerchief]; but I shall catch her at Maddox’s Gin-Ken.
1754		G. Stevens ‘A Cant Song’ Muses Delight 177: As I derick’d along to doss on my kin / Young Molly the fro-file I touted, / She’d nail’d a rum codger of tilter and nab, / But in filing his tatler was routed.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 253: nail: to nail a person, is to [...] rob, or steal; as, I nail’d him for (or of) his reader, I robbed him of his pocket-book; I nail’d the swell’s montra in the push, I picked the gentleman’s pocket of his watch in the crowd, &c. A person of an over-reaching, imposing disposition, is called a nail, a dead nail, a nailing rascal, a rank needle, or a needle pointer.
1828		Lytton Pelham III 283: In less than three months he would engage to make me as complete a ruffler as ever nailed a swell.
1839		Crim.-Con. Gaz. 14 Dec. 303/1: Have you forgotten the rib of beef you nailed from the joint when you was journeyman.
1842		Colonial Times (Hobart) 26 Apr. 3/2: [H]e was very nigh being ‘nailed’ at Smith’s, as the little boy was calling for his father.
1854		N.Y. Pick (NY) 29 Apr. n.p.: Why is a carpenter like an invariably successful thief? Because he can nail everything he has a mind to.
c.1854		Sam Cowell [perf.] ‘The Artful Dodger’ 🎵 I nailed this yaller from a bloke / Just down in Drury Lane.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor II 51/2: At last he was ‘bowl’d out’ in the very act of ‘nailing a yack’ (stealing a watch).
1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 12 Oct. n.p.: Annie [...] was ‘laying’ for a chance to ‘nail’ a bundle of goods.
1873		J. Greenwood In Strange Company 59: One little boy told me [...] that he had ‘done three months at Maidstone’ for ‘nailin’ two glasses of sweetstuff out of a shop’.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Apr. 9/3: Nothing is safe from them. They have ’boned’ my Claude Melnotte sword, my Major General’s ditto, ’nailed’ my table cutlery, broken into our empty treasury chest, and even appropriated my last stick of Wigzell’s grease paint. All’s fish that comes to their net.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 52: Nail, to capture; to steal.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 208: ‘’Frisco Kate,’ I whispered to her. ‘Well, well! No wonder you nailed my wallet.’.
1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 294: They had th’ statements he’d nailed [...], they’d publish th’ whole story in th’ papers less’n they let Steve take a walk and let that be th’ blow-off!
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 26: Benny ‘nailed two pokes’ (pocket books).
1947		W. Motley Knock on Any Door 193: As they passed the Shamrock a man came out carrying a violin case. ‘Shall we nail him?’ Lucky asked.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS.
1997		E. Little Another Day in Paradise 33: We hit him Saturday night, get two days’ worth of receipts. The first is Thursday. We nail him Saturday.

2. to apprehend and arrest.

[1594		Lyly Mother Bombie I i: I shall goe for siluer though, when you shall be nailed vp for slips].
1732		Proc. Old Bailey 19 Apr. 104/1: Prisoner. He told me himself, that Peter Buck was nail’d out of his Company; nail'd, is being taken up.
1790		‘The Bowman Prigg’s Farewell’ in Wardroper (1995) 283: But pray don’t you bring it yourself: / Harmans are at the Old Bailey. / I’d rather you would send it behalf, / For if they tout you they’ll nail you.
c.1800		Song No. 25 Papers of Francis Place (1819) n.p.: If they twig you, they’ll nail you.
1826		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 18 June 579/2: Vile creditors blight / Our prospects outright; / And when they have nailed us, cry, ‘Pay me, sir, pay!’.
1833		M. Scott Tom Cringle’s Log (1834) 153: This is my compact – if he nails you, you will require a friend at court, and I will stand that friend.
1843		Comic Almanack Feb. 352: [illus.] Vhy you would have wery soon a’pledged that ’ere handkerchief if ve had’nt a nailed you.
1846		Bell’s Life in Sydney 10 Oct. 3/1: He ‘nailed’ her at once and lodged her in durance vile.
1853		Tasmanian Colonist 19 Sept. 2/4: [W]itness said to O’Brien, ‘You did not take the note, but I know who did, and I will nail him’.
1858		A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 283: If he had had anybody to help him, he would have nailed the varmints as sure as eggs was eggs.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 32: ‘This place is all on fire; I must pad like a bull or the cops will nail me,’ every body is after me in this place; I must run like a locomotive or the officers will arrest me.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 84/1: She ‘maxed’ along with every one she knew, and before night she was again ‘nailed’ for being drunk.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 270: He listened to the tempter, ‘filched the ticker,’ and was nailed almost immediately.
1881		Trumble ‘On the Trail’ Sl. Dict. (1890) 41: I must amputate like a go-away, ot those frogs will nail me.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 182: I’ll give you and Bell a pair [of ear-rings] each [...] when we sell the horses, unless we’re nailed at the Turon.
1890		H. Fludyer Letters 117: Two chaps got nailed for cribbing yesterday.
1892		W. Norr Stories of Chinatown 40: That sucker had actually followed us [...] with the flatty and nailed Fritz, who worked the thing.
1901		B. Pain De Omnibus 39: But ’ow the coppers ’adn’t niled ’im was whort licked ’im.
1903		H. Hapgood Autobiog. of a Thief 49: But I did it, and was nailed dead to rights by a ‘cop’.
1916		J. Lait ‘Canada Kid’ Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 153: A plain-clothes dick nails me wit’ my fingers in a rube’s overcoat.
1917		J. Lait ‘Charlie the Wolf’ Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 26: Watch that grave. That’s where you’ll nail the Wolf. [Ibid.] 55: The night this here kid was nailed it was ten below zero.
1929		C.G. Gordon Crooks of the Und. 133: The penalty for being ‘nailed’ (arrested) is a mere flea-bite to that of the heavy grafter.
1936		R. Chandler ‘Goldfish’ Red Wind (1946) 148: He got to B.C. before he was nailed.
1938		J. Curtis They Drive by Night 164: One time a policeman had spoken out of turn to her. Reckoned he was going to nail her or something for soliciting.
1949		A. Hynd We Are the Public Enemies 141: She and Winona Burdette were nailed and sent up for five years.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 42: One night, Irish got nailed in the subway for jostling.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 16: Pretty soon they’ll nail me for one of those goddamn things.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 28: He got close to seventy-five before they nailed him.
1980		T. Lewis GBH 75: ‘Christ, if he [i.e. a policeman] couldn’t nail me then’.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 192: nail: [...] to be nailed means to be caught.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 190: He could be guaranteed a walk or probation, especially if he helped McDonald nail the robbers.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 204: Right now, you’ve got him nailed for robbery second.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 70: Heard you booked Rooski out of the Troll’s just before the cops nailed him.
1994		G. Disher Crosskill [ebook] [T]hat panelbeater we nailed last month. We caught him cold with a chassis [...] swiped from Shopping Town.
1999		Indep. Rev. 2 July 1: They’re trying to nail him for a timeshare fraud.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 92: If we don’t get rid of him then someday some cop’ll nail him.
2001		Week (US) 15 June 4: His daughter Sarah got nailed for alcohol possession at age 16.
2009		P. Temple Truth 80: This is drugs, it’s like spit, no natural end. You never nail anyone who matters, never have the final day in court.
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 50: The stickups we could never nail him for go from bold to ridiculous.
2016		D. Whish-Wilson Old Scores [ebook] ‘Take the money, whatever, but the bloke who’s offering is being watched. You’ll get nailed. Understood?’.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 122: ‘You killed that boy [...] they’ll nail you for it’.

3. (orig. UK Und.) to get hold of, to secure; lit. and fig.

1760		Foote The Minor 73: Some bidders are shy, and only advance with a nod; but I nail them.
1776		G. Colman Spleen I i: I’ll stay if I can nail you down for two minutes to listen to it.
1787		Burns Death and Dr. Hornbook in Works (1842) 14: Ev’n Ministers, they ha’e been kenn’d In holy rapture / A rousing whid at times to vend, An’ nail ’t wi’ Scripture.
1791		H. Lemoine ‘Education’ in Attic Misc. 116: To nail the ticker, or to mill the cly.
1800		‘When First From Kilkenny’ Jovial Songster 71: A rude press-gang assail’d me, / And tho’ I tipp’d them leg bail, my jewel, soon nail’d me.
1809		J. Mackcoull Abuses of Justice 32: Well, damn your eyes, I have nailed you now.
1822		T. Creevey letter in Gore Creevey Papers (1948) 233: Brougham has been bidding £15,000 for two farms in Westmorland. The seller has taken time to consider, and, if he does not nail him, he must have found one as insane as himself.
1834		Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Sept. 6 n.p.: Curtis cautioned his man against being nailed.
1837		‘The Spectre of Tappington’ Bentley’s Misc. Feb. 203: Mrs. Ogleton had already nailed the cab.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 66: Ven I pitches, and they count me the best flag pitcher of all the shallows; I never gets copped by the Bobbies [...] but yet I nails the browns.
1851		Melville Moby Dick (1907) 377: Ha, ha! old Ahab! the White Whale; he’ll nail ye!
1863		T. Taylor Ticket-Of-Leave Man Act IV: The five thousand shiners will be nailed in the turning of a jemmy.
1866		Bradford Obs. 6 Dec. 6/6: A debate ensued as to what course we should take to ‘nail’ a breakfast out of the workhouse authorities.
1871		Sportsman (London) ‘Notes on News’ 27 May 4/1: If the cats themselves would not claw Mr Lowe [...] depend upon it their owners would nail him.
1885		‘’Arry on Song & Sentiment’ Punch 14 Nov. 229/1: The Music ’All song paints a picter of wot we should all like to be; / And that’s where it nails us, dear Charlie.
1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 27: He had the Job nailed down on four Sides and then clinched underneath.
1903		J. Furphy Such is Life 44: Collar the horse quick! [...] Nail him now, or you’ll never ketch him.
1912		D. Lowrie My Life in Prison 82: There ain’t much dope here now, an’ it’s curtains t’ get nailed with it.
1914		A. Brazil Leader of the Lower School 115: ‘Wouldn’t it be enough if each promises to do what she can?’ ‘Why? It's much better to nail people’.
1918		C.J. Dennis ‘Digger Smith’ in Chisholm (1951) 94: Now ‘arf uv me’s back ‘ome, an’ ‘arf they nailed.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 362: Must nail that ad of Keyes’s.
1931		‘Memories’ in Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 251: Yes, many’s the time I’ve waited, / [...] To nail some redball rattler.
1944		N. Davis Rendezvous with Fear 23: Have they nailed that gun-crazy nut.
1955		‘Blackie’ Audett Rap Sheet 59: With that, the court attendants nailed him.
1963		M. Spillane Return of the Hood 9: The brothers Stipetto would be only too happy to help the fuzz nail my hide.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 47: Angela Sterling [...] nailing, as she did, a cool one and a quarter big ones per pic, plus ten per cent of the boxoroonie.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 270: Hey, you haven’t nailed her yet, kid.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 36: Donna Morgan nailed Karras behind his desk after class one afternoon.
1999		Eve. Standard 28 May 52: They’ve already ready nailed success.
2007		T. Dorsey Hurricane Punch 44: You’ll need my street sense if you want to nail this collar.
2013		J. Stahl Happy Mutant Baby Pills 103: Given that any promise a junkie makes has a shelf life shorter than a space heater in a bathtub, I wasn’t banking on Harold really nailing me a CSI gig.
2013		Esquire 1 Sept. 🌐 He was on a sales call about to land a cushty deal and nail a wad of commish.

4. to catch someone out, to take advantage of, to get the better of, to cheat.

1764		Foote Patron in Works (1799) I 334: I’ll nail him, I warrant.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 253: nail: to nail a person, is to over-reach, or take advantage of him in the course of trade or traffic.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1838		R. Nicholson Cockney Adventures 6 Jan. 75: ‘Vell,’ says he, ‘if I’ve been nailed, I’ll vallop the coves as did it, if you’ll go along vith me.’.
1843–44		Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1995) 682: You have nailed him. You’ll get a fortune by him.
1864		B. Hemyng Eton School Days 203: I wonder if he will get nailed?
1868		Sportsman 13 June 4/1: Notes on News [...] Anyone who would ‘nail’ one or two of these ‘raps to the counter’ of publicity wonld be doing the Fourth Estate a great service.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple III 142: I felt sure I should nail you, first or last.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Sept. 6/3: [Victor Hugo] had been ‘nailed’ by one Renduel, the publisher of the first-named novel, into signing an agreement to let him have for publication his two next novels on some low terms.
1891		Birmingham Dly Post 31 Mar. 3/5: He prided himself on being a match for the most seasoned rogue, and it was generally admitted that he had never been ‘nailed’ (deceived) but once.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 339: [He] nailed me for half the bank’s roll and got me fired.
1900		Bourbon News (Paris, KY) 7 Dec. 7/2: ‘You want to cut [opium] out. [...] It’ll nail you. It’s a game you can’t beat.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 202/1: Psychological moment (Soc. and Literary, 1894 on). Opportunity. Nick of time. Became very popular in 1896. I seized the p. m., and nailed him for a tenner.
1929		D. Hammett Red Harvest (1965) 26: It would have nailed Papa Elihu tighter than anyone else.
1983		R. Price Breaks 44: An acting student [...] got nailed calling his answering service.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 192: nail: to deal with someone; to expose someone.
1990		R.G. Barratt ‘TV Ads’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] ‘You really nailed ’em that time, Rosie.’ I’d nail them — and the driver.
2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 80: He’d done his job, nailing the knucklehead in the act.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 293: ‘You wanted to nail Lyons. You wanted it so bad you stopped doing your job’.
2010		in K. Richards Life 352: Oh boy, we nailed a kingfish and his sidekick now, buddy!

5. to punch, to hit hard or squarely; thus nailing, a beating.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1853		Westmorland Gaz. 7 May 5/5: Billy [...] was determined to be revenged for the nailing which they had given him.
1856		C. Reade It Is Never Too Late to Mend II 284: Tom nailed the other and I floored mine Hurrah!
1857		Bell’s Life in Victoria (Melbourne) 5 Sept. 3/1: The Slasher followed, and Tom nailed him on the snout.
1906		C. M’Govern Sarjint Larry an’ Frinds 23: Oi nailed him one solar plexus with me closed fist right betwen de eyes.
1916		O.O. McIntyre New York Day by Day 2 Aug. [synd. col.] And just then Dudley nailed him on the konk with a bottle of ink.
1925		D. Hammett ‘Corkscrew’ Story Omnibus (1966) 218: He nailed me once more before the fight ended.
1931		D. Runyon ‘Romance in the Roaring Forties’ Runyon on Broadway (1954) 32: Dave nails him with a big right hand on the chin.
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 8: Jackson [...] nails old Frank with a right.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 65: Maxie was as hard to hit as first prize in the art union. Bit flash with it all and the mob would be keen to see Snowy nail him.
1967		(con. 1920s) J. Thompson South of Heaven (1994) 173: He nailed me like di wa didy.
1970		‘Troy Conway’ Cunning Linguist (1973) 19: I’d nailed him good.
1976		P. Theroux Family Arsenal 33: ‘I’ll nail you, straight I will.’ ‘You couldn’t nail a daisy.’.
1987		G.A. Fine With the Boys 169: Nail, v.t. Hit (as in ‘nailing’ a car by throwing an egg at it).
1990		R.G. Barratt ‘TV Ads’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] ‘You really nailed ’em that time, Rosie.’ I’d nail them — and the driver.
2000		F.X. Toole Rope Burns 83: She nailed Billy repeatedly, but Billy stayed up and continued to head-butt.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 156: He nailed me in the stomach and I couldn’t breathe.

6. to shoot someone, to kill someone (occas. an animal or bird).

1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) 433: Blast my old slippers but I’ll nail ye!
a.1796		Burns Death and Dr. Hornbook in Works (1842) n.p.: I’ll nail the self-conceited sot As dead’s a herring [F&H].
1849		Bell’s Life in Sydney 21 July 3/2: [He] did threaten to astound, astonish, bunt, batter, crush, croak, damage, destroy, eat, embowel, fake,flog, grass, gall, harass, hammer, injure, im-pumge, jam, job, kill, knock-out, larrup, lick, mummyfy, murder, nail, nauseate, unify, obliterate, pound, punish, quiet, quench, rush, roast, settle, splfllicate, tear-to-atoms, terrify, ’ug, ’umbug, velt, vip, wiolute, wanquish, xasperate, xtinguish, and yoke-up the Zany.
1892		H. Nisbet Bushranger’s Sweetheart 294: I nailed two of the skunks.
1899		W.J. Kountz Billy Baxter’s Letters 5: I think if I’d had three barrels on that gun I would have nailed a duck, a duck and a half, or two ducks, as I was just getting good.
1907		C.E. Mulford Bar-20 xi: As he reloaded his Colts a bullet passed through his shirt sleeve and he promptly nailed the marksman.
1924		D. Hammett ‘Nightmare Town’ Nightmare Town (2001) 34: Then we nailed Mr. Kamp, and changed his name on the records.
1930		E. Hemingway letter c.10 Sept. in Baker Sel. Letters (1981) 328: I nailed him dead.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 72: Even if he happens to nail me, O’Toole will [...] nab Buttsy on the spot with his gun on him.
1958		H. Ellison Web of the City (1983) 48: They didn’t care who got nailed, so long as sparks flew.
1967		letter in Edelman Dear America (1985) 23 Mar. 171: Dear Mom & Pop: Guess what! They nailed me yesterday [...] but there’s nothing to worry about. I got scratched by a piece of shrapnel.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 67: Bet they nail Shadow.
1982		P. Theroux London Embassy 191: And frankly [...] I’d love to nail him.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 81: They nail him with six or seven solid hits.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] Vin’s idea was that Danny might go nuts and nail Scullin for him.
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 321: Nailed her while she watched, with this gun right here.
2002		C. Stella Jimmy Bench-Press 13: I fired back and nailed him.
2012		C. Stella Rough Riders 253: He nailed Singleton [...] with a rifle.

7. to corner or defeat, esp. an opponent.

1875		‘Aliph Cheem’ Lays of Ind (1905) 58: He who nails his home's destroyer, / Should not think of using force.
1927		‘Rangy Lil’ in Bold (1979) 192: Then — in the middle of her stroke — / He turned and nailed her as she broke!
1938		D. Runyon ‘That Ever-Loving Wife of Hymie’s’ Runyon on Broadway (1954) 604: Halfway down the stretch the outside horse nails him.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Social Error’ Runyon on Broadway (1954) 459: Dave the Dude [...] jumps across the room and nails Basil. ‘Why,’ Dave says to Basil, ‘you are nothing but a rascal.’.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 146: All he was concerned about was nailing Victor. He’d show the little bastard how to climb, rain or no rain.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 155: SO HER FATHER NAILED FLO WITH HIS TRUMP CARD.
1983		J. Byrell (con. 1959) Up the Cross 157: ‘Geez, Oscar [...] you’re pretty hard to nail’.
1987		C. Hiaasen Double Whammy (1990) 63: My brother wants to nail Dickie Lockhart.
1999		Observer Mag. 5 Dec. 21: He’s nailed his tapeworm nightmares with drugs – prescription drugs.
2000		Guardian 8 Jan. 7: The trial was a wonderful chance to nail the myth once and for all that the Holocaust did not happen.

8. (US) to seduce, to secure someone’s affections, to have sexual intercourse with.

[1748–49		Cleland Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1985) 64: I soon felt it [i.e. his belly] joining close to mine, when he had drove the nail up to the head. [Ibid.] 116: He had now fix’d, nail’d, this tender creature with his home driven wedge].
[c.1800		‘Wha the Deil can Hinder the Wind to Blaw?’ Burns Merry Muses of Caledonia (1965) 181: She heav’d to; and he strak fraem, / As he wad nail’d the carlin thro’].
1892		‘’Arry in ’Arrygate’ (Second Letter) in Punch 15 Oct. 169/3: ’Arrygate girls cop the buscuit for beauty / [...] / I’d nail ’em, in time, I’ve no doubt, when I once got the ’ang of their style.
1896		H. Blossom Checkers 114: I wonder if he’s got her ‘nailed’; she does n’t act much like it to me.
1902		Ade Girl Proposition 129: He found a Girl who had a Friend but he cut a wide Circle around Friend and nailed Girl.
1948		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 247: A lady came in for some hardware one day. / ‘What will you have?’ said I. / ‘Nails,’ she said, and nail her I did.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 138: Old C.D. himself [...] decided, after seeing the rushes, to dip in for a taste, little suspecting that by now Junior was nailing her repeatedly.
1978		A. Maupin Tales of the City (1984) 245: The one who nailed your mother, dingbat!
1986		H.B. Gilmour Pretty in Pink 120: Why don’t you just nail her and get it over with?
1994		G. Pelecanos Shoedog 7: ‘[H]e’s been trying to nail this brunette, a real piece of ass by the way’.
2000		M.E. Dassad ‘Chickenhawk’ at www.cultdeadcow.com 🌐 It was always this way with the slutty little brats I picked up, they swore they hated it, at the same time they were creaming all over themselves, as they remembered being nailed.
2007		R. Milward Apples (2023) 75: It was a macho thing in Boro to say, ‘Would’ve nailed her, fucking dirty slag’.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 162: I’ll bet he’s nailed a couple dozen kids from his classes.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 67: Been fuckin well nailin it aw weekend. Fill hoose, the loat.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘I bet some girl’s getting nailed’.

9. (US) to identify, to recognize.

[1608		Dekker Lanthorne and Candle-Light Ch. 2: If this Bauling fellow therefore haue not his mouth stopd, the light Angels that are Coynd Below, wil neuer be able to passee as they haue done, but be nayld up for Counterfets].
1902		C.L. Cullen More Ex-Tank Tales 39: I’d [...] try to dope it out where I’d stacked up against him before but [...] I couldn’t nail him.
1922		E. Dyson Missing Link 🌐 Ch. xiii: Well, yiv gotter look out, ol’ man. If she nails yer, yer a gone link, that’s er cert.
1962		K. Orvis Damned and Destroyed 185: The house dick nailed the room number, then waltzed down and checked the register.
1980		J. McClure Spike Island (1981) 503: We nailed it [i.e a crime] down to the three older ones in the end.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 252: I’ll bet you can nail him through her.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 129: The man passed an envelope [...] Wayne nailed a view. Wayne nailed an ID.
2012		IOL Cape News 30 Oct. 🌐 New ‘spy cars’ nail dodgy drivers.

10. to put an end to.

1915		R. Lardner ‘Harmony’ Coll. Short Stories (1941) 187: But Ryan finally nailed that. He said that when he ordered mornin’ practice he meant baseball and not no minstrel show.
2004		C. Brookmyre Be My Enemy 144: Jeez, you only had to get an eyeful of Theresa Graham of a Monday morning to nail that one [i.e. a mistaken theory].

11. to approach, to address.

1907		D. Runyon ‘The Defence of Strikerville’ From First To Last (1954) 12: There’s a plug sitting behind the desk [...] and I nails him.
1913		J. London Valley of the Moon (1914) 54: He wades right in for a showdown, an’ nails Billy outside, before everybody, an’ reads the riot act.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 159: Although he tried to duck into the Drug Store, the Trouble-Maker nailed him.
1975		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell and the Three-card Trick (1977) 144: I should have nailed her back there for my money.
1982		P. Theroux London Embassy 79: Now he’s yanked my file and sent you to nail me down.
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 158: While you had your head back guzzling, he’d nail ya with a sneak punch in the chops.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 317: Guy, still elated by the way he and Tony Wolfe had crushed MarsChannel into submission, decided to nail his father while he was still on a high.

12. to charge with a debt.

1973

G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 62: Coughlin nailed me fourteen hundred dollars for Ma’s funeral.

13. (US) to reprimand.

1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 43: The purpose of this harangue is not to nail any one newspaper or magazine.
1981		G.V. Higgins Rat on Fire (1982) 151: This is the first time I ever nailed an investigator for booting one, and he came right out and said he booted it.
1991		B. Hamper Rivethead (1992) 207: When Moza nailed Eddie for bangin’ on his bench, it was too much to take.

14. to do something well, to master something, to deal with successfully.

1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 120: A job well done [...] I’d got my end nailed down.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1999		Indep. Rev. 25 June 11: What few scraps of comedy come his way, he nails very smartly.
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 234: The cops should have nailed this one to begin with.
2012		T. Piccirilli Last Kind Words 146: ‘I was trying something new.’ ‘It worked. You nailed it’.

15. to link someone with a person or thing.

1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 247: How did you nail him for the Utopia torch?
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 25: You know you can nail me to that moralistic shitbird William H. Parker.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 289: It’s the computer that nails him.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 261: Look what Richie Danforth got us. Look who’s out to nail us for that one.

16. to put out of order, to render ineffective.

1973

E. Bunker No Beast So Fierce 209: Are you sure you can nail the alarm?

17. to consume.

2009

R. Milward Ten Storey Love Song 158: How many sweets that woman eats [...] she still keeps nailing the Haribo.