nail headn.
/ˈneɪl hɛd/, U.S. /ˈneɪl ˌ(h)ɛd/ 1. The head of a nail. Occasionally in extended use.With quot. 1792 cf. on the nail at nail n. Phrases 3.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nail > parts of nails
rivet1392
nail head1440
shank1483
clench1598
clinch1725
dog-head1793
1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Norbert (1977) l. 1363 Thus witȝ his malle þe nayle hed he hit: ‘Mi breþerin for here synnes penauns here schul doo.’
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 88 Made of thin plates nailed together, and strong square rivets upon the nail heads.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 53 The Plate..with the extuberancies of Nail-heads would hinder the free sliding of the Quoins.
1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives VI. xcix. 5 I meself will be so all bountifool as to come down on the nail head with thirty thousand for my son.
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 170 The practice of countersinking the holes, to receive the nail heads.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 876 Compressing the metal into the shape of a nail-head.
1905 P. N. Hasluck Handyman's Bk. 134/1 For punching the nail head below the surface of the work, the steel set is used.
1975 S. R. Delany Dhalgren i. 18 The first slice [of bread] had a tenpenny nailhead of muzzy green [mould] in the corner.
1997 A. Motion Salt Water 60 The ensign is tangled round a mast, and the deck worn pale with feet and sun and scrubbing brushes—the nail-heads and board-joints all plugged with pitch.
2. Something shaped like the head of a nail (esp. pyramidal and also more recently flat).
a. Church Architecture. A pyramidal ornament in stone carving. In quot. 1979: such ornaments collectively. Cf. nail-head moulding n. at Compounds 2.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > decoration specifically in relief > [noun] > bosses and knobs
pommel1345
knop1362
bossa1382
knotc1394
stooth1397
stud1420
bullion1463
torea1572
bossing1583
knurl1608
button1669
tachette1688
knosp1808
nail head1836
pellet1842
1836 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. Pl. xvi (caption) Nail-Head.
1850 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 5) II. 47 The nail-head being an ornament easily cut, was much used in almost all periods of Norman work.
1868 J. H. Hinde in Symeon of Durham Opera Introd. p. li It [sc. the triforium] is divided..into bays by triple shafts resting on semi-cylindrical bases, with something like three nail heads projecting from the face of each.
1970 H. Braun Parish Churches ix. 127 And should a hollow appear, the carvers seem to have been constrained to fill it in at intervals with punctuation in the form of little pyramids or ‘nail-heads’.
1979 N. Pevsner Nottinghamshire 38 The customary S porch..has a richly moulded E E doorway with two orders, crocket-capitals, and some nailhead.
b. The wedge-shaped head of a vertical stroke in the cuneiform writing systems of the ancient Near East. rare.
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society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > other forms
descendant1676
court letter1690
nail head1855
descender1883
crotchet letter1887
1855 Rambler 3 239 Mr. Forster will have it that the language..scribbled on the rocks of the desert of Sinai, in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and in the ‘nail-head’ letters of Assyria and Persia, is all one.
1948 D. Diringer Alphabet vi. 358 The vertical strokes ended with wedges or ‘nailheads’.
c. Dressmaking and Tailoring. A stud resembling a nail head, used as a form of decoration. Also: a fabric whose weave resembles a pattern of nail heads.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > fastenings > button > types of
hair-button1593
frog1635
bar-button1685
frost button1686
sleeve-button1686
berry-button1702
stud1715
pearl button1717
breast button1742
bell-button1775
shell button1789
red button1797
olivet1819
bullet-buttons1823
basket-button1836
all-over1838
top1852
olive1890
pearly1890
nail head1892
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > patterned > other
tapeta900
tapisa1513
quilting1616
pompadour1758
crossover1795
diamantine1832
chiné1841
nail head1892
floral1897
Paisley1898
basket weave1925
pareu cloth1972
1892 Daily News 24 Oct. 3/2 A red cloth dress was bordered with gold braid with nail-heads of jet an inch or so apart.
1947 Sun (Baltimore) 31 Oct. 3/7 (advt.) It can look dressed-up or casual with its gold-toned nailheads, oblong gold-toned buckle.
1973 Philadelphia Inquirer 14 Oct. (Today Suppl.) 14/1 (advt.) Zip-front shirt jac with nailhead trim.
1998 T. Wolfe Man in Full xxiii. 546 He knew how well his athletic frame carried a suit like the gray nailhead worsted he had on this morning.
Compounds
C1. † nail-head ornament n. Obsolete
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1848 J. H. Parker Rickman's Styles Archit. Eng. (ed. 5) App. 54 The nail-head, and toothed ornaments, though found in France, are by no means so abundant as in England.
1865 J. Raine Priory of Hexham II. p. li On the north side there is no decoration attempted, except the nail-head ornament in one member of the arch.
nail-head pattern n.
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1877 J. C. Cox Notes Churches of Derbyshire III. 319 The archway..resting on corbels having the nail-head pattern.
1944 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 74 47/2 In some cases the knob [of a burial pot] is plain, in others of a dotted or nail-head pattern.
C2.
nail-head moulding n. Church Archit. a band or frieze consisting of a series of nail heads (sense 2a).
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1838 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 2) 84 Nail-head Moulding, an ornament used in the earlier period of Gothic architecture.
1845 Proc. Archæol. Instit., Winchester 5 Their rim is ornamented with the nail-head moulding.
1977 J. S. Curl Eng. Archit. 113/2 Nail-head Moulding, this is one used in Early English buildings, and consisted of a band resembling a series of pyramidal nail-heads.
nail-head spar n. Mineralogy a variety of calcite in which the crystals resemble nail heads, being flat rhombohedra mounted on hexagonal prisms.
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1851 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 62 396 Calcspar..variety called Nail-head Spar.
1902 H. A. Miers Mineral. i. 84 In the so-called ‘nail-head spar’ of Cumberland..scalenohedra of calcite..are terminated by rhombohedra whose cleavages are parallel to those of the scalenohedron.
1954 J. F. Kirkaldy Gen. Princ. Geol. xi. 155 (table) Name... Calcite... Common Form... Nail-head spar, flat rhombohedra on hexagonal prism. Dog-tooth spar, scalenohedra on hexagonal prism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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