Meaning & use
hobnailed
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Having short metal nails hammered into the sole to make the shoe hard-wearing and to give a better grip.
Grammar: Used before a noun: hobnailed boots. It is not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- hobnailed boots
- hobnailed shoes
The farmer stamped the mud off his hobnailed boots at the door.
In the museum there is a pair of hobnailed shoes worn by a Victorian worker.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Relating to a rough, old-fashioned style of rural life or heavy footwear.
Grammar: Used before a noun in a figurative or descriptive way: hobnailed country ways.
Patterns
- hobnailed traditions
- hobnailed country life
The novel describes a hobnailed world of farms and stone walls.
His hobnailed manners did not fit the elegant dinner party.
Common combinations
- hobnailed boots
- He wore heavy hobnailed boots that clattered on the stone floor.
- hobnailed shoes
- The hikers changed into hobnailed shoes before climbing the rocky path.
- a pair of hobnailed boots
- She bought a pair of hobnailed boots for the winter.
- hobnailed sole
- The hobnailed sole left tiny marks on the wooden floor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- studded
- More common today and can describe any shoe with metal or plastic studs, not only nails.
- nailed
- Used mainly in the fixed phrase 'nailed boots'; less specific than 'hobnailed'.
Word family
- hobnail noun
- A short heavy nail used in the sole of a boot.
Commonly confused: hobnailed or hobnob?
hobnailed vs hobnob
Hobnob means to spend time socially with important people, and has nothing to do with boots or nails.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'hobnailed' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Hobnailed' describes boots or shoes with metal nails in the sole, so it fits before 'boots'. The other options use it as a verb or in unrelated ways, which is not correct.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hobnailed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.