nail-biting

[ neyl-bahy-ting ]

/ ˈneɪlˌbaɪ tɪŋ /

the act or practice of biting one's fingernails, especially as the result of anxiety or nervousness.

Informal. nervousness: The announcement that the trade agreement had been signed ended a week of nail-biting on Wall Street.

Informal. causing nervousness: The nail-biting part of the canoe trip was through the stretches of white water.

Origin of nail-biting

First recorded in 1890–95

nail-bit·er, noun

During the nail-biting 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Obama was in it to win it.

John Boehner’s Holiday Photo Snub & More Petty Political Moments |Abby Haglage |December 5, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
There are moments of exultation and frustration, of nail-biting anxiety, and the normal banter that characterizes any workplace.

JFK’s Secret White House Recordings Unveiled |Ted Widmer |September 25, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
A sports movie and a redemption story and a drug movie and a nail-biting tale of success!

Lights, Camera, Cocktails |Brody Brown |September 17, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Four years ago, a billion people watched as the World Cup final was decided by the nail-biting process and Italy edged France.

World Cup Primer |Joshua Robinson |June 12, 2010 |DAILY BEAST

Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy comes to a nail-biting conclusion with The Reckoning.

Spring's Big YA Books |Shannon Donnelly |March 18, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
When are nail-biting and dirt-eating seen, and how are they to be controlled?

The Care and Feeding of Children |L. Emmett Holt
Certain other childish habits, such as nail-biting, have also been described as sexual manifestations.

The Sexual Life of the Child |Albert Moll

nail-biting

the act or habit of biting one's fingernails