Hobnail

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a pair of hobnailed boots
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a pair of hobnailed boots

Hobnail may refer to:

[edit] In footwear

  • A short nail with a thick head: used to increase the durability of boot soles.
  • Hobnailed boots have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the military. They have hobnails, usually installed in a regular pattern over the whole sole. They also usually have an iron horseshoe-shaped insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel. They provide traction on soft or rocky ground, but they tend to slide on smooth, hard surfaces.

[edit] Other uses

  • A pattern of glassware: (sometime called Fenton Hobnail) where the body of the piece has a regular array of bumps, as if finished with glass hobnails.
  • A popular song from 1907, performed by Billy Williams.
  • "Hobnailed liver" is medical jargon for cirrhosis of the liver.
  • A reference to the game-winning touchdown pass by quarterback David Greene to running back Verron Haynes in the 2001 Georgia-Tennessee football game.