"hit the nail on the head" meaning in English

See hit the nail on the head in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-hit the nail on the head.ogg Forms: hits the nail on the head [present, singular, third-person], hitting the nail on the head [participle, present], hit the nail on the head [participle, past], hit the nail on the head [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|hit<,,hit> the nail on the head}} hit the nail on the head (third-person singular simple present hits the nail on the head, present participle hitting the nail on the head, simple past and past participle hit the nail on the head)
  1. (idiomatic) To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: nail the hammer on the head [rare], nail it Related terms: on the dot, on the nose Translations (identify something exactly): justa la fusta (Catalan), 一針見血 (Chinese Mandarin), 一针见血 (yīzhēnjiànxiě) (english: draw blood on the first prick) (Chinese Mandarin), uhodit hřebíček na hlavičku (Czech), udeřit hřebíček na hlavičku (Czech), ramme hovedet på sømmet (Danish), de spijker op de kop slaan (Dutch), osua naulan kantaan (Finnish), faire mouche (French), den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen (German), ins Schwarze treffen (German), fején találja a szöget (Hungarian), hitta naglann á höfuðið (Icelandic), eiga kollgátuna (Icelandic), hitta í mark (Icelandic), koma orðum að kjarna máls (Icelandic), tilgreina kjarna máls (Icelandic), colpire nel segno (Italian), fare centro (Italian), rem acū tangō (Latin), acū tangō (Latin), durti kaip pirštu į akį (english: prick as finger in the eye) (Lithuanian), den Nol op de Kapp treffen (Luxembourgish), laqat il-musmar fuq rasu (Maltese), trafić w sedno [perfective] (Polish), acertar em cheio (Portuguese), попа́сть не в бровь, а в глаз (popástʹ ne v brovʹ, a v glaz) (english: hit not the brow but the eye) (Russian), попа́сть в то́чку (popástʹ v tóčku) (english: hit the spot) (Russian), dar en el blanco (Spanish), dar en el clavo (Spanish), clavarla (Spanish), slå huvudet på spiken (Swedish), tam üstüne basmak (Turkish), попа́сти в то́чку (popásty v tóčku) (Ukrainian), приткну́ти як вужа́ ви́лами (prytknúty jak vužá výlamy) (Ukrainian), у самі́сіньке о́ко вці́лити (u samísinʹke óko vcílyty) (Ukrainian)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hits the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hitting the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hit<,,hit> the nail on the head"
      },
      "expansion": "hit the nail on the head (third-person singular simple present hits the nail on the head, present participle hitting the nail on the head, simple past and past participle hit the nail on the head)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
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            "Entry maintenance"
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        },
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Latin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Luxembourgish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maltese translations",
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          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
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          "kind": "other",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
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          "name": "Terms with Turkish translations",
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        },
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He hit the nail on the head when he said the problem was the thermostat.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer."
      ],
      "id": "en-hit_the_nail_on_the_head-en-verb-a5~3WS4x",
      "links": [
        [
          "identify",
          "identify"
        ],
        [
          "exactly",
          "exactly"
        ],
        [
          "answer",
          "answer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "on the dot"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the nose"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "nail the hammer on the head"
        },
        {
          "word": "nail it"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "justa la fusta"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "一針見血"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "english": "draw blood on the first prick",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yīzhēnjiànxiě",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "一针见血"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "uhodit hřebíček na hlavičku"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "udeřit hřebíček na hlavičku"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "ramme hovedet på sømmet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "de spijker op de kop slaan"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "osua naulan kantaan"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "faire mouche"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "ins Schwarze treffen"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "fején találja a szöget"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "hitta naglann á höfuðið"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "eiga kollgátuna"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "hitta í mark"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "koma orðum að kjarna máls"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "tilgreina kjarna máls"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "colpire nel segno"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "fare centro"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "rem acū tangō"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "acū tangō"
        },
        {
          "code": "lt",
          "english": "prick as finger in the eye",
          "lang": "Lithuanian",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "durti kaip pirštu į akį"
        },
        {
          "code": "lb",
          "lang": "Luxembourgish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "den Nol op de Kapp treffen"
        },
        {
          "code": "mt",
          "lang": "Maltese",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "laqat il-musmar fuq rasu"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "trafić w sedno"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "acertar em cheio"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "hit not the brow but the eye",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "popástʹ ne v brovʹ, a v glaz",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "попа́сть не в бровь, а в глаз"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "hit the spot",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "popástʹ v tóčku",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "попа́сть в то́чку"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "dar en el blanco"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "dar en el clavo"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "clavarla"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "slå huvudet på spiken"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "tam üstüne basmak"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "popásty v tóčku",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "попа́сти в то́чку"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "prytknúty jak vužá výlamy",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "приткну́ти як вужа́ ви́лами"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "u samísinʹke óko vcílyty",
          "sense": "identify something exactly",
          "word": "у самі́сіньке о́ко вці́лити"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hit the nail on the head.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/16/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hit the nail on the head"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hits the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hitting the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hit the nail on the head",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hit<,,hit> the nail on the head"
      },
      "expansion": "hit the nail on the head (third-person singular simple present hits the nail on the head, present participle hitting the nail on the head, simple past and past participle hit the nail on the head)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "on the dot"
    },
    {
      "word": "on the nose"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Catalan translations",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Danish translations",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Icelandic translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Latin translations",
        "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
        "Terms with Luxembourgish translations",
        "Terms with Maltese translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Turkish translations",
        "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He hit the nail on the head when he said the problem was the thermostat.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "identify",
          "identify"
        ],
        [
          "exactly",
          "exactly"
        ],
        [
          "answer",
          "answer"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To identify something exactly; to arrive at exactly the right answer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hit the nail on the head.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/16/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/En-au-hit_the_nail_on_the_head.ogg"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "nail the hammer on the head"
    },
    {
      "word": "nail it"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "justa la fusta"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "一針見血"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "english": "draw blood on the first prick",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yīzhēnjiànxiě",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "一针见血"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "uhodit hřebíček na hlavičku"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "udeřit hřebíček na hlavičku"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "ramme hovedet på sømmet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "de spijker op de kop slaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "osua naulan kantaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "faire mouche"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "den Nagel auf den Kopf treffen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "ins Schwarze treffen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "fején találja a szöget"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "hitta naglann á höfuðið"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "eiga kollgátuna"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "hitta í mark"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "koma orðum að kjarna máls"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "tilgreina kjarna máls"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "colpire nel segno"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "fare centro"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "rem acū tangō"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "acū tangō"
    },
    {
      "code": "lt",
      "english": "prick as finger in the eye",
      "lang": "Lithuanian",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "durti kaip pirštu į akį"
    },
    {
      "code": "lb",
      "lang": "Luxembourgish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "den Nol op de Kapp treffen"
    },
    {
      "code": "mt",
      "lang": "Maltese",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "laqat il-musmar fuq rasu"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "trafić w sedno"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "acertar em cheio"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "hit not the brow but the eye",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "popástʹ ne v brovʹ, a v glaz",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "попа́сть не в бровь, а в глаз"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "hit the spot",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "popástʹ v tóčku",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "попа́сть в то́чку"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "dar en el blanco"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "dar en el clavo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "clavarla"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "slå huvudet på spiken"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "tam üstüne basmak"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "popásty v tóčku",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "попа́сти в то́чку"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "prytknúty jak vužá výlamy",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "приткну́ти як вужа́ ви́лами"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "u samísinʹke óko vcílyty",
      "sense": "identify something exactly",
      "word": "у самі́сіньке о́ко вці́лити"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hit the nail on the head"
}

Download raw JSONL data for hit the nail on the head meaning in English (6.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.