How to Use fingernail in a Sentence

fingernail

noun
  • I trimmed and filed my fingernails.
  • He had dirt under his fingernails.
  • The rind should be so tough that your fingernail cannot dent it.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2023
  • Just look at your lap, the floor, the beds of your fingernails.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 13 May 2025
  • Nor was a sore fingernail that led him to wear a glove in warm-ups.
    — Dallas News, 22 Oct. 2022
  • Use your fingernail or a knife to scratch the bark on a twig or a branch.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2021
  • But, like our fingernails, horns get a lot of day-to-day use.
    — Anna Nordseth, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2023
  • First, there is the implant, which is the size of a fingernail.
    — Charlie Fink, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • If this happens, use your fingernail or a small spoon to get the peanut out.
    — Matt and Ted Lee, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2023
  • The girl was petite and pale, with inky hair and sticky peach fingernails.
    — Elisabeth Egan, chicagotribune.com, 10 June 2017
  • Keep child’s fingernails short and smooth to avoid nail damage to skin.
    — Philly.com, 8 May 2018
  • The girl said the teacher had grabbed her arm and left marks on it from her fingernails.
    — cleveland, 21 Nov. 2019
  • But take your fingernail and scratch the bark from the tree and a pale green line appears.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2021
  • Raúl was solid, his hands meaty and strong, his fingernails curved and trimmed.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Those are races that could be decided by the length of a fingernail.
    — Washington Post, 16 June 2021
  • Run your fingernail lightly over the scratch.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 17 May 2026
  • This will make the wax bits brittle and easy to nudge off with a dull knife or even just your fingernail.
    — Carolyn Forte, Good Housekeeping, 24 Dec. 2018
  • The team behind it has now reduced that tech down to a chip the size of a fingernail.
    — New Atlas, 3 Mar. 2025
  • The fingernails picking at the strings of the guitar are lined with black dirt.
    — David Montero, latimes.com, 14 June 2018
  • The last step calls for detailed fingernails to be painted and added.
    — Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 17 June 2018
  • These cherries were about the size of a fingernail, and mostly pit.
    — Ian Knauer, WSJ, 27 July 2022
  • It’s made of keratin—the same protein our fingernails and hair are made of.
    — National Geographic, 26 June 2016
  • To check, lightly scratch the bark with your fingernail and look for color.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Jan. 2026
  • To tell whether a branch is dead, gently nick the bark with your fingernail or the back of a pruner’s blade.
    — chicagotribune.com, 17 Apr. 2022
  • His fingers are long and thin, and so are his fingernails, which are the color of pearls.
    — Tom Junod, Esquire, 2 Oct. 2017
  • Just like human fingernails and hair, scutes are made of keratin.
    — Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, 2 May 2026
  • What about the dotards who have semen all in the fingernails of their thumbs and pinkies, Yesha?
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 6 Oct. 2017
  • Then, work your fingernail under the edge of the film of glue and carefully peel it off.
    — Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 24 June 2019
  • Lift the cloth and begin to peel off the sticker with a credit card or your fingernail.
    — Kate Van Pelt, The Spruce, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Scratch a twig with your fingernail to reveal the tissue under the bark.
    — Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fingernail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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