to draw the nail
Preserved but no longer current.
To release oneself from a vow. It was a custom in Cheshire to register a vow by driving a nail into a tree, swearing to keep your vow as long as it remained there. If you wished to retract, the nail was with- drawn and the vow thereby cancelled.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to draw the nail” mean?
To release oneself from a vow. It was a custom in Cheshire to register a vow by driving a nail into a tree, swearing to keep your vow as long as it remained there. If you wished to retract, the nail was with- drawn and the vow thereby cancelled.
Is “to draw the nail” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.