·noun A clownish person; a rustic.
II. Hobnail ·vt To tread down roughly, as with hobnailed shoes.
III. Hobnail ·noun A short, sharp-pointed, large-headed nail, — used in shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes.
A country clodhopper: from the shoes of country farmers and ploughmen being commonly stuck full of h...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose