eightpenny

[ eyt-pen-ee ]

/ ˈeɪtˌpɛn i /

Save This Word!

adjective

noting a nail 2½ inches (6.4 centimeters) long.

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

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON “THEIR,” “THERE,” AND “THEY’RE”

Are you aware how often people swap around “their,” “there,” and “they’re”? Prove you have more than a fair grasp over these commonly confused words.

Question 1 of 7

Which one of these commonly confused words can act as an adverb or a pronoun?

their

there

they're

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

Example sentences from the Web for eightpenny

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

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY