cut nail

noun

1. a nail having a tapering rectangular form with a blunt point, made by cutting from a thin rolled sheet of iron or steel.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cut nail¹

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95

Example Sentences

A cut nail, distinctive to the 19th century, helps date the structure, but Preservation Maryland plans to have dendrochronology done to date the wood within a few months of when it was cut.

From Washington Post

This rarely happens when you drive a cut nail into a mortar joint.

From Washington Post

These parts are sometimes quite long, and clinch back into the board like the top of a capital T. Then came a better nail of wrought iron, clumsy but effective; and, later still, the cut nail in sole use a generation ago.

From Project Gutenberg

Why, the pickle which Mr. Malcolm took happened to have a cut nail extending the full length of it.

From Project Gutenberg

This having been made entirely by hand, with no implement but a common cut nail, the process is of course too slow to be valuable; but the result attained may very probably afford useful hints and suggestions to inventors of weaving machinery.—I think the display of Flint Glass by the Brooklyn Company is equal in purity and fineness to any other plain Glass in the Exhibition, and only regret that the quantity sent had not been larger.

From Project Gutenberg