hobnail
noun
- short nail with a thick head driven into the soles of boots or other footwear to increase traction and improve durability
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331918 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
noun
Etymology: From hob + nail. The oldest attestation is in William Shakespeare, but he likely did not coin the term.
- A short nail with a thick head, typically used in boot soles.
- A yokel; a rustic.
“Next, the word Politician is not us'd to his maw, and therupon he plays the most notorious hobbihors, jesting and frisking in the luxury of his non-sense with such poor fetches to cog a laughter from us, that no antic hobnaile at a Morris, but is more hansomly facetious.”
“There lay Tom; hobnail Tom! a bacon-munching, reckless, beer-swilling animal! and yet a man …”
verb
Etymology: From hob + nail. The oldest attestation is in William Shakespeare, but he likely did not coin the term.
- To fit with hobnails.
“a machine for the hobnailing of shoes”
- To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.
“Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush.”