Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Hobnail

Hob′nailˊ

,
Noun.
[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′nailˊ

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

Webster 1828 Edition


Hobnail

HOB'NAIL

,
Noun.
A nail with a thick strong head, for shoeing horses.
1.
A clownish person; in contempt.

Definition 2024


hobnail

hobnail

English

Noun

hobnail (plural hobnails)

  1. A short nail with a thick head, typically used in boot soles.
  2. (obsolete) A clownish person; a rustic.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Translations

Verb

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

  1. To fit with hobnails.
    a machine for the hobnailing of shoes
  2. (transitive) To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.
    • 1875, Tennyson, Queen Mary
      Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush.