A.talons, claws, Il.8.248, al. ; so of the falcon, Hes.Op.204, 205, Ar.Av.1180 ; so of beasts of prey, Pi.N.4.63, Hdt.3.108 ; of the crocodile, Id.2.68 ; of the Sphinx, E.El.471 (lyr.); of human beings, nail, Hes.Sc.266, Hdt.4.64, etc.; “τοὺς ὄνυχας τῶν δακτύλων” Ar.Av.8 ; of horses and oxen, hoof, X.Eq.1.3, Ap9.64 (Asclep. or Arch.): Arist. speaks of the hoof (ὁπλή) as homologous to the nail or claw (ὄνυξ), HA486b20, PA690a9: metaph., “πρὸς ὀξύν γ᾽ ὄ. πετραίου λίθου” E.Cyc.401 codd. (leg. στόνυχα) :—Special phrases :
1. εἰς ἄκρους τοὺς ὄ. ἀφίκετο (sc. ὁ οἶνος) warmed me to my fingers' ends, ib.159; so “ἐκ κορυφῆς εἰς ἄκρους ὄ.” AP9.709 (Phil.), cf. 12.93 (Rhian.) ; so also ἐξ ὀνύχων from the fingers' ends, ib.5.13 (Rufin.), Plu.2.3c ; but ἐξ ἁπαλῶν ὀ. from childhood, Horace's de tenero ungui, AP5.128 (Autom.).
3. ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γένηται, i. e. when the model reaches the nail stage, because the sculptor puts the finishing touches to the model with his nail, Polyclit. ap. Plu. 2.636c, cf. Plu.2.86a ; so ἡ δι᾽ ὄνυχος δίαιτα a most careful, close life, ib. 128e ; “τὸν Λυσιακὸν χαρακτῆρα ἐκμέμακται εἰς ὄνυχα” ad unguem expressit, D.H. Dem.13 ; σύμπηξις εἰς ὄνυχα a nice fit, Gal.2.737 ; “τὰς γωνίας ἐπ᾽ ὄνυχος συμβεβλημένας ἔχειν” Ph.Bel.66.37 ; “πρὸς ὄνυχα τὴν προσκαρτέρησιν ποιεῖσθαι” Phld.Rh.1.11S.; cf. “ὀνυχίζω” 111, ἐξονυχίζω.
5. ἐξ ὀνύχων λέοντα (sc. τεκμαίρεσθαι) to judge by the claws, i. e. by a slight but characteristic mark, Alc.113, Apostol. 7.57.
II. anything like a claw,
1. fluke of an anchor, Plu.2.247e.
2. an instrument fixed by a surgeon to his finger, Hp.Superf. 7, Gal.19.107.
3. ὄ. σιδηροῦς tool used for scraping the 'figs' of the συκάμινος, Thphr.HP4.2.1 (pl.) ; also for making incisions to extract gum of balsam, ib.9.6.2(pl.).
III. anything like the nail:
1. the white part at the end of rose-petals by which they are attached to the stalk, Dsc.1.99.
2. hypopyon, an accumulation of pus in the eye resembling a nail-paring, Aët.7.30 tit. (pl.), Paul.Aeg.3.22.23.
3. part of the liver, Ruf.Onom.180, Sch.Nic.Th.560.
4. veined gem, onyx, LXX Jb.28.16, Aristeas66, J.BJ5.5.7 ; “Σαρδῷος ὄ.” sardonyx, Luc.Syr.D.32 (cf. σαρδόνυξ) ; “ὄ. σφραγίς” IG22.1388.86, cf. 12.282.128.
5. an aromatic substance, onycha, LXX Ex.30.34, Damocr. ap. Gal.13.226, Dsc.2.8, POxy.1142.4(iii A. D.).
6. = ἀστράγαλος VII, Ps.-Dsc.4.61.