nail closed/nail up/close/shut (2025)

Hello everyone,

I woul like to know the difference between these two words. The context is that a person has a lot of work to do and she wants to be alone in her office, so she does in sort that the door is closed, but smoothly. In this context can I say "She nailed the door closed/nailed the door up to start working" or "She closed/shut the door to start working"

Thanks

what does nail a door closed and nail up a door mean?
[Moderator note: These are examples given in the WR dictionary entry for 'nail'.]

I don't understand the examples, that's why I created this thread!

[Moderator note. Post modified to reflect edits above.]

A door can be open or closed/shut. If you close/shut a door, then take a big hammer and some 6 inch/150 mm nails, and then hammer the nails through the door into the door frame, you have nailed the door closed/shut.

To "nail up" is a phrasal verb which carries the same meaning. If you nail up a door you fasten it closed by either nailing through the door into the frame, or by placing planks of wood across the door and nailing those planks to the frame.

Whichever you choose (nail shut, nail up), the point of using nails is that you don't intend to open the door again.

guillaume28 said:

Thanks, but then, why using closed and shut in the sentence "to nail the door closed/shut"?

Click to expand...

These are alternativeswith the same essential meaning.
If you close a door, then take a big hammer and some 6 inch/150 mm nails, and then hammer the nails through the door into the door frame, you have nailed the door closed.
If you shut a door, then take a big hammer and some 6 inch/150 mm nails, and then hammer the nails through the door into the door frame, you have nailed the door shut.

guillaume28 said:

Thanks, but then, why using closed and shut in the sentence "to nail the door closed/shut"?

Click to expand...

I suppose we want to know the purpose of the nails, since we can nail a door together (construct it), nail a door open (permanently place it in an open state using nails) or nail a door shut/closed (permanently place it in a closed state using nails). Nailing the door means applying nails and it's not considered a complete thought. The second word in the phrasal verb gives us the intended result of applying the nails to the door.

You can lock a door, of course. But that leaves open the option to unlock it at will. To nail closed a door means that the option of easily opening the door is gone. To open the door again takes the arduous task of removing all the nails.

So for me, nailing closed a door means more than just making it impossible to enter or exit through that door. It eliminates the temptation of unlocking from the equation.