ˈnail-head
[f. nail n. + head n.1]
1. The head of a nail. Also fig.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing x. ¶9 The Plate..with the extuberancies of Nail-heads would hinder the free sliding of the Quoins. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 876 Compressing the metal into the shape of a nail-head. 1855 Rambler III. 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’; this script was therefore termed ‘nail⁓headed’. |
2. a. An ornament shaped like the head of a nail.
| 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1850) II. 47 The nail-head being an ornament easily cut, was much used in almost all periods of Norman work. 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 (Today Suppl.) 14 Oct. 14/1 (Advt.), Zip-front shirt jac with nailhead trim. 1974 Sumter (S. Carolina) Daily Item 24 Apr. (Belk Stroman Advts. Suppl.) 2 Denim shifts with nailheads, embroidery, polka dot or check trims! |
b. attrib., as nail-head moulding, nail-head ornament, nail-head pattern.
| 1845 Freeman in Proc. Archæol. Instit., Winchester 5 Their rim is ornamented with the nail-head moulding. 1848 Rickman Styles Archit. Eng. App. 54 The nail-head, and toothed ornaments, though found in France, are by no means so abundant as in England. 1877 J. C. Cox Ch. Derbysh. III. 319 The archway..resting on corbels having the nail-head pattern. |
3. Min. nail-head spar, a variety of calc-spar in which the crystals resemble nail-heads.
| 1851 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. Ser. ii. XII. 396 Calcspar..variety called Nail-head Spar. 1892 Dana Min. 266 Nail-head spar, a composite variety having its name from its form. |