forefingernail

plural forefingernails · alternative forefinger nail

1. The nail of the forefinger.

   He wiped at the film of dirt settling on his cheeks, digging it out of the serrations in his hide with a horny forefingernail.

   1957 February, Algis Budrys, “The War Is Over”, in John W[ood] Campbell, Jr., editor, Astounding Science Fiction, volume LVIII, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Street & Smith Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 130, column 1

   2 more examples

   Insert the right thumb and forefinger down into the center compartment of the twisted section and with the forefingernail uppermost grasp the center of the original bight (see arrow in the second diagram).

   1944, Clifford W[arren] Ashley, “The Jug Sling or Jar Sling Knot”, in The Ashley Book of Knots, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →OCLC, chapter 14 (Knots Tied in the Bight), page 208

   Don Lane, his ordinarily olive face a dusky rose, was smiling as he speared an onion in his Gibson with his right forefingernail.

   1975 (date written), Charles Willeford, chapter 33, in The Shark-Infested Custard, Novato, Calif.; Lancaster, Pa.: Underwood-Miller, published 1993, →ISBN, page 251