a short nail with a thick head; used to protect the soles of boots
<noun.artifact> [ verb ]
supply with hobnails
<verb.possession>
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.
2. A clownish person; a rustic. --Milton.
{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.
Hobnail \Hob"nail`\, v. t. To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.
Your rights and charters hobnailed into slush. --Tennyson.