treenail — [trē′nāl΄; ] also [ tren′əl, trun′əl] n. [ME trenayle < tre, TREE (in early sense “wood”) + nayle, NAIL] a very dry wooden peg used to join timbers, esp. in building wooden ships: it swells from moisture and ensures a tight joint … English World dictionary
Treenail — A treenail, trenail, or trunnel is a wood peg, or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in timber frame construction and wooden shipbuilding. It is an ancient technology. Covered bridges in the U.S. often use treenails as… … Wikipedia
treenail — or trunnel; also trenail noun Date: 13th century a wooden peg made usually of dry compressed timber so as to swell in its hole when moistened … New Collegiate Dictionary
treenail — /tree nayl , tren l, trun l/, n. a wooden pin that swells when moist, used for fastening together timbers, as those of ships. Also, trenail, trunnel. [1250 1300; ME trenayl. See TREE, NAIL] * * * … Universalium
treenail — noun A wooden peg or pin used as a fastener … Wiktionary
treenail — long wooden pin used to fix planks of ship to the timbers Nautical Terms … Phrontistery dictionary
treenail — (also trenail or US trunnel) noun a hard wooden pin used for fastening timbers together … English new terms dictionary
treenail — n. Trunnel … New dictionary of synonyms
treenail — tree·nail … English syllables
treenail — tree•nail or trenail [[t]ˈtriˌneɪl, ˈtrɛn l, ˈtrʌn l[/t]] n. bui a wooden pin that swells when moist, used for fastening timbers • Etymology: 1250–1300 … From formal English to slang