nail one's colors to the mast

A form of nail one's colours to the mast — To clearly show one's support for a side or opinion in a dispute, often indicating an intention to defend that side to the end.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbnail one's colors to the mast (third-person singular simple present nails one's colors to the mast, present participle nailing one's colors to the mast, simple past and past participle nailed one's colors to the mast)

present singular third person nails one's colors to the mast · participle present nailing one's colors to the mast · participle past nailed one's colors to the mast · past nailed one's colors to the mast

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of nail one's colours to the mast.
Cite this entry
APA

nail one's colors to the mast. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nail%20one's%20colors%20to%20the%20mast

MLA

“nail one's colors to the mast.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nail%20one's%20colors%20to%20the%20mast. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nail one's colors to the mast,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nail%20one's%20colors%20to%20the%20mast.

Source: nail one's colors to the mast on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.