nail in

nail in

1. To affix something in(to some surface) with a nail or some similar fastener. A noun or pronoun can be used between "nail" and "in." I tried nailing the picture frame in, but it was too heavy for the hollow wall to hold. After you've finished nailing these wooden beams in, you can give the whole thing a fresh coat of paint.
2. To drive a nail or some similar fastener in(to some surface). A noun or pronoun can be used between "nail" and "in." Here, take these and nail them in to hold this piece of wood up. Why on earth would you try to nailing in screws like that? All you'll do is damage both the wood and the screws.
See also: nail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • nail on
  • nail (something) into (something)
  • nail into
  • nail up
  • nail (something) to (something else)
  • nail (something) onto (something else)
  • nail onto
  • nail (something) back
  • nail back
  • nail a/the lie
References in classic literature
A nail in one of my front shoes had started as I came along, but the hostler did not notice it till just about four o'clock.
Black Beauty
In contrast to the conventional view of blackface minstrelsy as the nail in the coffin of antebellum racial stasis, Brown sees it--rightly, I think--as an arena in which ripping social transformation was registered and even activated.
Darktown Strutters