[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/hangnail/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [H](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/h/) / hangnail

# hangnail

noun (a hangnail, hangnails)

«hangnail» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

A small torn piece of skin hanging loose at the side or bottom of a fingernail, which can hurt. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#m1)

### In the lessons

In health and hygiene lessons: don't bite or pull a hangnail — snip it carefully with clean clippers, wash your hands and keep the skin moisturised, or it can get infected. Hangnails come from dry skin and nail biting.

### Examples

- I've got a sore hangnail on my thumb. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x1)
- Don't pull your hangnail; you'll make it bleed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x2)
- Mum cut off my hangnail with nail clippers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x3)
- Biting your nails can cause hangnails. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x4)
- Hand cream helps stop hangnails in winter. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x5)
- A hangnail can get red and infected if you pick at it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/#x6)

### Note

Countable. Trap: despite the name, a hangnail is skin, not part of the nail.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hangnail» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hangnail/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hangnail» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hangnail.html) on Mova free.