Wiktionary
alt. (context dated English) A relatively large nail, three inches (7.62 centimeters) in length. n. (context dated English) A relatively large nail, three inches (7.62 centimeters) in length.
WordNet
n. a nail 3 inches long
Usage examples of "tenpenny nail".
The face, horribly seared by the frequent application of the red-hot poker, and further ornamented by the insertion, in the tip of the nose, of a tenpenny nail, yet smiled blandly in its less lacerated parts, and seemed, like a sturdy martyr, to provoke its tormentor to the commission of new outrages and insults.
Each hinged plank had a tenpenny nail which would strike a cartridge percussion cap as soon as a Maggot stood on one.
Although most authorities called for the tenpenny nail in a situation like this, Sergeant Tri found them lacking in imagination.
More of a puncture wound, painful and annoying and messy, as if someone had driven a tenpenny nail into the fleshy part of her shoulder.
I never see a boy vet that couldn't go through a tenpenny nail, easy as not.
He had other causes for satisfaction: although she had scarcely a bolt of sailcloth or a tenpenny nail to spare once she had put herself to rights, the ship was now taut and trim and beautifully dry.
A tiny hole was chipped in the window glass just above the catch, and a rusty tenpenny nail was wedged in the corner between the window frame and sill, where he had left it.