hobnail

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

hobnail
    n 1: a short nail with a thick head; used to protect the soles
         of boots
    v 1: supply with hobnails

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hobnail \Hob"nail`\, n. [1st hob + nail.]
   1. A short, sharp-pointed, large-headed nail, -- used in
      shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes.
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   2. A clownish person; a rustic. --Milton.
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   {Hobnail liver} (Med.), a disease in which the liver is
      shrunken, hard, and covered with projections like
      hobnails; one of the forms of cirrhosis of the liver.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hobnail \Hob"nail`\, v. t.
   To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.
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         Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush.
                                                  --Tennyson.
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