Meanings
plural treenails · alternative trannel · alternative trenail · alternative trennel · alternative trunnel
- A wooden peg or pin used as a fastener.
OPERATION—The wood for the treenail is fixed in G; the balance wheel is then moved....
1847, editorial staff, “TREENAIL MACHINE”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 10, page 731 more example
Long treenails were quite difficult to drive, often being damaged in the process, with ends becoming "broomed", or worse, split, necessitating the head being trimmed, or far worse, the removal of the treenail.
2005 Michael McCarthy: Ships' Fastenings: From Sewn Boat to Steamship. ISBN:1-58544-451-0
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna wooden peg that is used to fasten timbers in shipbuilding; water causes the peg to swell and hold the timbers fast
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishtrenayl
- Englishtreenail
Inherited from Middle English trenayl; equivalent to tree + nail.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian дюбел
- дюбел (djubel)peg
Finnish puunaula
- puunaulapeg
Greek ξυλόκαρφο
- ξυλόκαρφο (xylókarfo)peg
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with treenail
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
treenail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/treenail
“treenail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/treenail. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “treenail,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/treenail.
Source: treenail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.