stud
noun
a boss, knob, nailhead, or other protuberance projecting from a surface or part, especially as an ornament.
Trivia Time
Which of these would most likely sport a stud?
stud
1 American
[stuhd]
/ stʌd /
noun
-
a boss, knob, nailhead, or other protuberance projecting from a surface or part, especially as an ornament.
-
any of various buttonlike, usually ornamental objects, mounted on a shank that is passed through an article of clothing to fasten it.
a collar stud.
-
any of a number of slender, upright members of wood, steel, etc., forming the frame of a wall or partition and covered with plasterwork, siding, etc.
-
any of various projecting pins, lugs, or the like, on machines or other implements.
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Automotive. any of a large number of small projecting lugs embedded in an automobile tire studded tire to improve traction on snowy or icy roads.
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an earring consisting of a small, buttonlike ornament mounted on a metal post designed to pass through a pierced ear lobe.
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Horology. the piece to which the fixed end of a hairspring is attached.
verb (used with object)
-
studs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
studded,
past participle, past
-
studding
present participle
-
to set with or as if with studs, bosses, or the like.
The leather-covered door was studded with brass nails.
-
(of things) to be scattered over the expanse or surface of.
Stars stud the sky.
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to set or scatter (objects) at intervals over an expanse or surface.
to stud raisins over a cake.
-
to furnish with or support by studs.
adjective
stud
2
American
[stuhd]
/ stʌd /
noun
-
a studhorse or stallion.
-
an establishment, such as a farm, in which horses are kept for breeding.
-
a number of horses, usually for racing or hunting, bred or kept by one owner.
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a male animal, such as a bull or ram, kept for breeding.
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a herd of animals kept for breeding.
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Slang.
-
a man who is notably virile and sexually active.
-
a handsome man with an attractive physique; a hunk.
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a young man.
-
-
Poker. stud poker.
-
a Black woman or girl, especially a lesbian, who embraces identity markers, such as clothing, hairstyle, interests, or behaviors that are associated with traditional expressions of masculinity.
Masculine women are my type so I've dated a lot of studs.
adjective
-
of, associated with, or pertaining to a studhorse or studhorses.
-
retained for breeding purposes.
-
noting or relating to a Black woman or girl, especially a lesbian, who embraces identity markers, such as clothing, hairstyle, interests, or behaviors, that are associated with traditional expressions of masculinity; butch.
There's a lot of stud lesbians in the club tonight!
idioms
stud.
3
American
abbreviation
stud
1
British
/ stʌd /
noun
-
a large-headed nail or other projection protruding from a surface, usually as decoration
-
a type of fastener consisting of two discs at either end of a short shank, used to fasten shirtfronts, collars, etc
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building trades a vertical member made of timber, steel, etc, that is used with others to construct the framework of a wall
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a headless bolt that is threaded at both ends, the centre portion being unthreaded
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any short projection on a machine, such as the metal cylinder that forms a journal for the gears on a screw-cutting lathe
-
the crossbar in the centre of a link of a heavy chain
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one of a number of rounded projections on the sole of a boot or shoe to give better grip, as on a football boot
verb
-
to provide, ornament, or make with studs
-
to dot or cover (with)
the park was studded with daisies
-
building trades to provide or support (a wall, partition, etc) with studs
stud
2
British
/ stʌd /
noun
-
a group of pedigree animals, esp horses, kept for breeding purposes
-
any male animal kept principally for breeding purposes, esp a stallion
-
a farm or stable where a stud is kept
-
the state or condition of being kept for breeding purposes
at stud
put to stud
-
(modifier) of or relating to such animals or the place where they are kept
a stud farm
a stud horse
-
slang a virile or sexually active man
-
short for stud poker
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
studsimple
-
studssimple
-
have studdedperfect
-
has studdedperfect
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am studdingprogressive
-
are studdingprogressive
-
is studdingprogressive
-
have been studdingperfect progressive
-
has been studdingperfect progressive
Past
-
studdedsimple
-
had studdedperfect
-
was studdingprogressive
-
were studdingprogressive
-
had been studdingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stud1
First recorded before 900; Middle English stod(e), stud(e), “upright post; ornamental knob,” Old English stod, studu “stake, post”; cognate with Middle High German stud, Old Norse stoth “pillar, post, support”
Origin of stud2
First recorded before 1000, and in 1920–25 stud 2 for def. 6; Middle English stod(e), stud(e), Old English stōd “a stud, herd of horses,” cognate with Old Norse stōth; akin to stand
Explanation
A stud is a metal piece that sticks out, usually for decoration. You might have studs spelling out "Mom" on your leather jacket. Straight, simple earrings — a single pearl on a straight post, for instance — are also called studs. There are a few meanings of stud that you should know if you are an equestrian or in construction. A stud is a male horse used for breeding, and it’s also slang for a macho he-man. If you want to hang a heavy mirror on a wall, you have to find the studs — the upright boards behind the wall — and hammer your nails into the studs, so the nails are anchored to something solid so they can support the weight of the mirror.
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.
See Examples For:
His video, which rapidly surged to more than 750,000 views, shows his vehicle approaching an unfinished wooden guard hut with stud walls still visible on the outside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
And in February, as snow melted around the “No Industrial Solar” signs that stud the long country roads, a circuit court judge ruled that St. Clair County’s health regulation is “invalid, null, and void.”
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
Ferdinand was sent to stud in 1989 and sold to a breeding farm in Japan in 1994.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
The Suffolk Punch Trust has had a stud at Hollesley in the county, since 1759.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026
The price they’d get for the offspring of such a stud alone.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
“He’s a stud. He’s always first class in every sense of the word.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
“When you see Scott Eastwood in this movie, running and gunning, you gotta remember this dude has got a broken ankle and he’s a bit of a stud. Just like his dad,” he jokes.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 2, 2020
“He’s a stud. He’s somebody that doesn’t care what situation he’s in, who he’s facing, who’s at the plate. His heart beats the same way the whole time.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2017
“You almost start handicapping him again when he goes to stud. The genes he carries are crucial to the breeder’s decision as to whether he’s a worthy gamble as a sire,” Oakford added.
From Forbes ● Jun. 6, 2015
Smile pretty, everybody," Garlock said, and pressed a stud. "... the matter?
From The Galaxy Primes by E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith
The internet as we knew it might have been torn down to the studs by Silicon Valley bigwigs looking to sell the wiring for scrap, but the bones are still good.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
The sight of the centre-backs standing tall, studs on the ball, waiting for the opposition forwards to become impatient before closing them down felt unnatural but it was purposeful.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Crews are putting finishing touches on mall buildings after tearing them down to the studs, treating the wood and rebuilding the walls, Caruso said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
On that night, in Kansas City, Messi lunged for a ball and raked his studs on the calf of an Algerian defender.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
I had more than one hundred pairs—a collection of big hoops and long dangly beads and small studs shaped either like hearts or daisies or baby animals.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
The road to perfecting her self-taught craft was studded with trial, error and copious online video tips.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Constantinople had a superb strategic position and massive ancient defenses: a huge moat, an outer wall, and an inner wall studded with towers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Under a chaotic canopy woven with vines and studded with fearsome spiked stems, the group crossed streams, waded through mud and picked off dozens of leeches.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Their lead single “Fabienk” is studded with hair-trigger riffs — if you can even call them that — that mix the playful nursery rhyme melodies of Battles with the no-wave drone of Sonic Youth.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
He’s playing simple chords in a studded beat that I think is supposed to be reggae, and after a while I realize it’s “I Shot the Sheriff.”
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
And at a shady tent, a group of teenagers blared pop songs, looped together friendship bracelets and did one another’s makeup, blending rainbow eye shadow and studding sequins along their foreheads.
From New York Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
Scientists expect more genetic changes that affect parts of the spike protein studding the surface of the virus, letting it attach to human cells.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
But Ferreira found that people who carry a specific variant of the ACE2 gene have about 39 percent fewer receptors for the protein studding their cellular surfaces.
From Scientific American ● May 18, 2022
This fantasy's purpose wasn't to make these fetes more desirable by studding them with stars, but to accurately suss out the source of a performer's charisma.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2022
The thatch had been ripped from some, where others stood there was now only a heap of mud with their owners’ possessions studding them in a kind of pitiless decoration.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
