Meaning & use
manicure
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Meanings
nouncountable
A beauty treatment in which the hands are cleaned and the nails are shaped, buffed and often painted.
Grammar: Countable: have a manicure, book two manicures.
Patterns
- get a manicure
- have a manicure
She treated herself to a manicure before the wedding.
The salon offers a basic manicure and a longer gel version.
A weekly manicure keeps her nails strong and tidy.
verbtransitive
To clean, trim and shape someone's nails, often adding polish.
Grammar: Takes an object: manicure her nails.
Patterns
- manicure someone's nails
- manicure someone
The technician carefully manicured each customer's nails.
She manicured her own nails at the kitchen table.
He rarely manicures his hands, even for formal events.
verbtransitivefigurative
To trim and tend something, such as a lawn or garden, until it looks very neat.
Grammar: Often used in the passive or as an adjective: a manicured lawn.
Patterns
- manicure a lawn
- manicure a garden
The groundskeepers manicure the golf course every morning.
They manicured the hedges into perfect cubes.
Every Saturday he manicures his lawn with scissors.
Word forms
| plural | manicures |
|---|---|
| third person singular | manicures |
| past tense | manicured |
| past participle | manicured |
| -ing form | manicuring |
Common combinations
- get a manicure
- She likes to get a manicure before a job interview.
- French manicure
- A French manicure has pale pink nails with white tips.
- gel manicure
- A gel manicure can last about two weeks without chipping.
- manicured nails
- His manicured nails gleamed under the lamp.
- manicured lawn
- The hotel is surrounded by a manicured lawn and rose beds.
- book a manicure
- She booked a manicure and a haircut for Friday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mani
- It is an informal short form, mostly spoken or used in advertising, so it feels chattier than 'manicure'.
- nail treatment
- It is a vaguer phrase that could cover many services, whereas 'manicure' specifically includes the hands.
- groom
- As a verb it means to make tidy and can apply to people, animals and lawns, so it is broader than 'manicure'.
- trim
- It means cutting something shorter, and it lacks the idea of careful finishing that 'manicure' has.
Word family
- manicurist noun
- a person whose job is to do manicures
- manicured adjective
- neatly trimmed and cared for
- mani noun
- informal short form of manicure
- pedicure noun
- a similar treatment for the feet
Commonly confused: manicure or pedicure? manicure or manicurist?
manicure vs pedicure
A manicure treats the hands and fingernails, whereas a pedicure treats the feet and toenails.
manicure vs manicurist
The manicurist is the professional, and the manicure is the treatment they give.
Practice
She booked a ____ because her fingernails were chipped before the party.
Choose one answer.
A manicure is the treatment for hands and fingernails. A pedicure treats the feet, so it is the nearest wrong option.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “manicure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.