manicure

/ˌmænəˈkjʊər/

/ˈmænɪkjə/

Other forms: manicured; manicuring; manicures

When you get a manicure, your fingernails get filed and shaped and possibly painted red. You might get a manicure at a spa or salon as a way to pamper yourself.

You can pay a professional to give you a manicure, or you can do a manicure at home with a nail file and a bottle of nail polish. Some people get manicures for fun and relaxation, while others don't feel well dressed without the perfect nails that a manicure provides. In French the word manicure means "care of the hands," and it comes from the Latin word for "hand," manus.

Definitions of manicure

1. noun

   professional care for the hands and fingernails
   type of:

   beauty treatment

   enhancement of someone's personal beauty

   aid, attention, care, tending

   the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
2. verb

   trim carefully and neatly
   “manicure fingernails”

   type of:

   cut

   separate with or as if with an instrument
3. verb

   care for (one's hand) by cutting and shaping the nails, etc.
   type of:

   groom, neaten

   care for one's external appearance