clouer

Clouer is a French verb meaning to nail or to fix something in place with nails. Literally, it denotes driving nails into a surface or attaching objects using nails. It is also used figuratively to describe immobilization or constraint, as in being “cloué au lit” (bedridden) or in the idiom “clouer le bec” (to shut someone’s mouth).

Conjugation and usage: clouer is a regular -er verb. In the present tense it appears as je cloue, tu cloues, il cloue, nous clouons, vous clouez, ils clouent. The passé composé is formed with avoir: j’ai cloué; the imperfect is je clouais; the future is je clouerai; the conditional is je clouerais. The subjunctive present includes que je cloue, que nous clouions, que vous clouiez, qu’ils clouent. The verb is commonly used in carpentry and construction contexts, for example clouer une planche au bois, or figuratively in expressions such as clouer quelqu’un sur place or clouer le bec.

Etymology and related terms: clouer derives from the noun clou, meaning nail, which in turn comes from Latin clavus or a related root. Related terms include clou (nail) and clouage (the act or process of nailing). The word is widely used in everyday French as well as in technical and literary contexts.

See also: clou, clouage, expressions using clouer such as clouer au lit and clouer le bec.