eightpenny

[ eyt-pen-ee ]

/ ˈeɪtˌpɛn i /

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adjective

noting a nail 2½ inches (6.4 centimeters) long.

costing or amounting to the sum of eight pennies. Symbol: 8d

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Origin of eightpenny

First recorded in 1490–1500; eight + penny (def. 6) (so called because originally one paid eight British pennies for a hundred nails; the term later referred to the size of the nail)

Words nearby eightpenny

eighth cranial nerve, eighthly, eighth note, eighth rest, eightieth, eightpenny, eights, eightsome reel, eight-spot, eight-track tape, eightvo

How to use eightpenny in a sentence

From John Blane, during the same year, he purchased 2500 tenpenny nails and the same quantity of eightpenny nails.
The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia|C. Malcolm Watkins
It is rumoured that the former is in treaty with the latter for a pair of left-off six-and-eightpenny Clarences.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, July 24, 1841|Various
Eightpenny finishing nails are the best, three in each board, the heads being driven in to admit of puttying.
Harper's Young People, July 12, 1881|Various
The large fivepenny, sixpenny, eightpenny, and shilling often had unusually wide margins when perforated.
Peeps at Postage Stamps|Stanley Currie Johnson

Mrs Margaret looked wistfully at the fourteen-shilling crimson, and then manfully chose the six-and-eightpenny green.
The White Lady of Hazelwood|Emily Sarah Holt