tenpenny
Americanadjective
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noting a nail 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in length. 10d.
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worth or costing 10 cents.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of tenpenny
A late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at ten, penny
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.
Cowan’s Roosevelt slashes the air with his right hand while making key points; he clips his words with a speaking style that one contemporary likened to biting off tenpenny nails.
From Washington Post • Jan. 29, 2016
"No, by God." said the sergeant, "it was a tenpenny nail."
From Time Magazine Archive
The strongest magnet ever made will not pull tenpenny nails out of a board at a distance of one yard.
From Time Magazine Archive
That could hardly have worried Harold Stassen less: he was already hard at work hammering tenpenny nails into his political platform.
From Time Magazine Archive
All the same, I couldn't help feeling that half a million francs were worth a tenpenny wire.
From Jonah and Co. by Yates, Dornford
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.
