nailer
(ˈneɪlə(r))
Forms: 5–7 nayler, 6–7 -or, 8–9 nailor, nailer.
[f. nail v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who makes nails; a nail-maker.
| c 1440 York Myst. xix. (title) The Gyrdillers and Naylers. 1538 Leland Itin. (1769) IV. 114 There be many Smithes in the Towne..and a great many Naylors. 1611 Cotgr., Cloutier, a nayler, a nayle-smith; a seller or maker of nayles. 1665 D. Dudley Mettall. Martis (1854) 39 Twenty thousand Smiths or Naylors at the least dwelling near these parts. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6163/3 Edward Cooke,..by Trade a Nailor. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. i. I. 10 A smith..whose..business has not been that of a nailer can seldom..make more than eight hundred or a thousand nails in a day. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 170 The nailors in general furnish them both better and cheaper than the smiths can make them. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. i. viii. 224 Nailers' consumption, a form of chronic pneumonia. |
| appos. 1847 H. Miller First Impr. Eng. viii. 145 The nailer-lads were frequently refused..permission. |
b. In phrases
like, or as busy as, a nailer.
| 1857 Holland Bay Path x. 120 Yes, he did and he stuck to it like a nailer. 1899 Harper's Mag. Sept. 510 Thady..bein' kept as busy as a nailer. |
2. One who drives in nails.
| 1803 Naval Chron. IX. 73 The Tonnant..was coppered by several gangs of punchers and nailers. |
3. slang. a. A marvellously good thing, animal, or person; an exceptionally good hand
at something.
| a 1818 Macneill Poems (1844) 50 A vet'ran Scot spoiled Egypt's plot; Ah, pangs,—that was a nailer. 1884 Mrs. E. Kennard Right Sort v. 48 That young roan mare who carried you so brilliantly through the run{ddd}She's a nailer! 1897 W. Rye Norfolk Songs 133 Edward, Lord Suffield was a nailer at sprint running. |
b. [
f. nail v. 8 a.] A policeman or detective.
| c 1863 T. Taylor in M. R. Booth Eng. Plays of 19th Cent. (1969) II. 84 Then there's the Nailer's been after me... What, Hawkshaw, the 'cutest detective in the force? 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 79/1 Nailer, a uniformed police officer. |
Hence
ˈnaileress, a female nail-maker.
rare.
| 1847 H. Miller First Impr. Eng. viii. 147 The two young naileresses were really very pretty. |