The Chinese word for nail is
钉子

dīng zi

Chinese Definition

nail
1. 名词. 钉
2. 名词. 指甲
3. 名词. 爪
Components
钉
1. Simplified form of 釘
子
1. (literary) child; offspring
2. son
獨生子 - dúshēngzǐ - only son
愛子 - àizǐ - beloved son
一子一女 - yī zǐ yī nǚ - one son and one daughter
3. (literary) descendant; posterity
4. (Christianity) the Son
5. (in compounds) person
女子 (nǚzǐ) - female; woman
6. (literary) master; teacher
7. (literary) A respectful title for teachers, usually attached after their surnames.
^孔子 (Kǒngzǐ) - Master Kong (Confucius)
^老子 (Lǎozǐ) - Laozi
8. (literary, polite) you
9. Alternative form of 籽 (seed); also its second-round simplified form.
葵花子 (kuíhuāzǐ) - sunflower seed
10. egg
魚子 (yúzǐ) - caviar
11. young; tender; small
12. Prefix attached to nouns, denoting "a part of", "belonging to" or "individual". sub-
子目錄 (zǐmùlù) - subdirectory
13. (astrology) First earthly branch: rat in the Chinese zodiac, 11th solar month, midnight (11:00 pm to 1:00 am)
14. (historical) viscount (fourth of five ranks of Chinese aristocracy under the Zhou dynasty)
15. (physics, biology) -on
16. (Min Nan) grain-like object; particle; granule
17. (Min Nan, music) rhythm
18. (Min Nan)
19. Suffix:
20. Used to nominalize.
21. 瓶子zi - píngzi - bottle
22. 刷子zi - shuāzi - brush
23. 胖子zi - pàngzi - fat person
24. (colloquial) Used in some classifiers.
25. 一下子zi - yīxiàzi - all of a sudden
26. small, round object
算盤子jí (sǹg-pôaⁿ-jí) - abacus bead, MN
27. (Xiamen, Quanzhou)
28. (Zhangzhou, Taiwan)