HOBNAIL

hobnail

(noun) a short nail with a thick head; used to protect the soles of boots

hobnail

(verb) supply with hobnails

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

hobnail (plural hobnails)

A short nail with a thick head, typically used in boot soles.

(obsolete) A clownish person; a rustic.

Coordinate terms

• blakey

• seg

Verb

hobnail (third-person singular simple present hobnails, present participle hobnailing, simple past and past participle hobnailed)

To fit with hobnails.

(transitive) To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.

Source: Wiktionary

Hob"nail`, n. Etym: [1st hob + nail.]

1. A short, sharp-pointed, large-headed nail, -- used in shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes.

2. A clownish person; a rustic. Milton. Hobnail liver (Med.), a disease in which the liver is shrunken, hard, and covered with projections like hobnails; one of the forms of cirrhosis of the liver.

Hob"nail`, v. t.

Definition: To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes. Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition