hobnail
Americannoun
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a large-headed nail for protecting the soles of heavy boots and shoes.
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a small allover pattern consisting of small tufts, as on fabrics, or of small studs, as on glass.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hobnail
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.
The word "hobnail" first appears in a text attributed to Shakespeare, but it's difficult to imagine it arose from a creative poetic act.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2022
If you know when and where to look, you can find sumptuous patches of violet blewits, a foreboding rust-colored tree pathogen called the “orange hobnail canker” and a honey-hued jelly fungi known as “witches’ butter.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2021
A hobnail or a piece of wampum far exceeds it.
From Forbes ● Aug. 18, 2014
The air is filled with the stamp of hobnail boots landing on concrete on the command of a sergeant major.
From BBC ● May 18, 2012
Mike, on the cricket field, could not have looked anything but a cricketer if he had turned out in a tweed suit and hobnail boots.
From Mike by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
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.
