fivepenny
Americanadjective
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noting a nail 1.75 inches (4.4 centimeters) long. 5d
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worth five pence.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of fivepenny
First recorded in 1790–1800; five + penny ( def. 6 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He's got a head like a pierrot's cap and it's as bald as a fivepenny egg, when it ought to be beautifully rounded and covered with crisp curly hair.
From Malcolm Sage, Detective by Jenkins, Herbert George
Having written a fivepenny pamphlet, An Address to the Irish People, he stood in the balcony of his lodgings in Lower Sackville Street, and threw copies to the passers-by.
From The Art of Letters by Lynd, Robert
The large fivepenny, sixpenny, eightpenny, and shilling often had unusually wide margins when perforated.
From Peeps at Postage Stamps by Johnson, Stanley Currie
For example, a threepenny nail is 1¼" long, a fourpenny nail is 1½" long, a fivepenny nail is 1¾" long, a sixpenny nail is 2" long.
From Handwork in Wood by Noyes, William
Spectator, No. 454: "I went afterwards to Robin's, and saw people who had dined with me at the fivepenny ordinary just before, give bills for the value of large estates."
From The Journal to Stella by Swift, Jonathan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
