tenpenny

[ ten-pen-ee, -puh-nee ]

/ ˈtɛnˌpɛn i, -pə ni /

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adjective

noting a nail 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in length. Symbol: 10d.

worth or costing 10 cents.

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

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Origin of tenpenny

A late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at ten, penny

Words nearby tenpenny

tenosuture, tenosynovectomy, tenosynovitis, tenotomy, tenovaginitis, tenpenny, ten percenter, tenpin, tenpin bowling, tenpins, tenpounder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use tenpenny in a sentence

Nails driven through the palms of her hands,—tenpenny nails,—under the hypnotic suggestion that she wasn't being hurt.
The Faith Healer|William Vaughn Moody
And with that he took out the two tenpenny nails with his fingers just as easy as if they had been put in by women.
Jerry's Reward|Evelyn Snead Barnett
They would not know how to exaggerate a broom-stick; for the life of them they could not exaggerate a tenpenny nail.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens|G. K. Chesterton
I don't call it just the thing to drive a tenpenny nail square through a lead pipe, pull it out, and say nothing about it.
Homes And How To Make Them|Eugene Gardner

She was in great want of the tenpenny piece, and she was going to sell herself to get it, when I gave it to her.
Legends of Saints & Sinners|Douglas Hyde

British Dictionary definitions for tenpenny

tenpenny

/ (ˈtɛnpənɪ) /

adjective

(prenominal) US and Canadian (of a nail) three inches in length

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012