To nail
a lie or an assertion, etc.,
to detect and expose it, so as to put a stop to its currency; — an
expression probably derived from the former practice of shopkeepers, who were accustomed to nail bad
or counterfeit pieces of money to the counter.
Nailbrush
(Nail"brush`), n. A brush for cleaning the nails.
Nailer
(Nail"er) n.
1. One whose occupation is to make nails; a nail maker.
2. One who fastens with, or drives, nails.
Naileress
(Nail"er*ess), n. A women who makes nailes.
Nailery
(Nail"er*y) n.; pl. Naileries A manufactory where nails are made.
Nail-headed
(Nail"-head`ed) a. Having a head like that of a nail; formed so as to resemble the head of a
nail.
Nail-headed characters,
arrowheaded or cuneiform characters. See under Arrowheaded. — Nail-
headed molding (Arch.), an ornament consisting of a series of low four-sided pyramids resembling the
heads of large nails; — called also nail-head molding, or nail-head. It is the same as the simplest form
of dogtooth. See Dogtooth.
Nailless
(Nail"less), a. Without nails; having no nails.
Nainsook
(Nain`sook") n. [Nainsukh, a valley in Kaghan.] A thick sort of jaconet muslin, plain or striped,
formerly made in India.
Nais
(||Na"is) n. [L., a naiad.] (Zoöl.) See Naiad.
Naissant
(||Nais`sant") a. [F., p. pr. of naître to be born, L. nasci.] (Her.) Same as Jessant.
Naïve
(Na"ïve`) a. [F. naïf, fem. naïve, fr. L. nativus innate, natural, native. See Native, and cf. Naïf.]
Having native or unaffected simplicity; ingenuous; artless; frank; as, naïve manners; a naïve person; naïve
and unsophisticated remarks.
Naïvely
(Na"ïve`ly) adv. In a naïve manner.
Naïveté
(||Na`ïve`té") n. [F. See Naïve, and cf. Nativity.] Native simplicity; unaffected plainness or ingenuousness; artlessness.
A story which pleases me by its naïveté — that is, by its unconscious ingenuousness.
De Quincey. Naïvety
(Na"ïve`ty) n. Naïveté. Carlyle.
Nake
(Nake) v. t. To make naked. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Come, be ready, nake your swords.
Old Play. Naked
(Na"ked) a. [AS. nacod; akin to D. naakt, G. nackt, OHG. nacchot, nahhot, Icel. nökviðr, nakinn,
Sw. naken, Dan. nögen, Goth. naqaþs, Lith. n&uringgas, Russ. nagii, L. nudus, Skr. nagna. &radic266.
Cf. Nude.]
1. Having no clothes on; uncovered; nude; bare; as, a naked body; a naked limb; a naked sword.