roughshod

roughshod
    adj 1: (of a horse) having horseshoes with projecting nails to
           prevent slipping
    2: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict
       pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings";
       "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the
       kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks" [syn: {barbarous},
       {brutal}, {cruel}, {fell}, {roughshod}, {savage}, {vicious}]
    3: unjustly domineering; "incensed at the government's heavy-
       handed economic policies"; "a manager who rode roughshod over
       all opposition" [syn: {heavy-handed}, {roughshod}]
    

Roughshod \Rough"shod\, a.
   Shod with shoes armed with points or calks; as, a roughshod
   horse.
   [1913 Webster]

   {To ride roughshod}, to pursue a course regardless of the
      pain or distress it may cause others.
      [1913 Webster]