ferrar

Senses

1. 1.

   to shoe (a horse)

   To put horseshoes on an animal

2. 2.

   to screw up, to mess up

   To ruin something or cause harm (colloquial)

3. 3.

   to nail, to fasten with iron

   To secure or attach using metal fasteners

4. 4.

   to get screwed, to fail

   To suffer negative consequences or fail badly (reflexive, colloquial)

Examples

• "O veterinário veio ferrar os cavalos hoje de manhã."

  The veterinarian came to shoe the horses this morning.

• "Você ferrou tudo com aquele comentário na reunião."

  You screwed everything up with that comment in the meeting.

• "Se eu não estudar para a prova, vou me ferrar."

  If I don't study for the test, I'm going to get screwed.

Usage

In colloquial Brazilian Portuguese, "ferrar" is very commonly used to mean "to mess up" or "to screw up," and reflexively "se ferrar" means "to get screwed/fail." The literal meaning of shoeing horses is less common in everyday speech. Often used in expressions like "ferrar no sono" (to fall into a deep sleep) or "deu ferro" (things went wrong).