trenail

9.9

A wooden peg used to hold pieces of wood together by swelling when wet

noun

Archaic

: trena

Water would cause the trenail to swell, creating a tight and sturdy joint.

Examples

The shipwright hammered a trenail into place to secure the deck planks.
Traditional wooden ships often relied on trenails rather than metal fastenings.
The carpenter used a trenail to secure the beams.
Many trenails are needed for the ship's construction.
The shipwright hammered a trenail into place to secure the deck planks.
Traditional wooden ships often relied on trenails rather than metal fastenings.
Water would cause the trenail to swell, creating a tight and sturdy joint.

Synonyms

trunnel

vstrenail

Specialized

9.9

A wooden peg that holds wood pieces together by swelling when wet

is the same meaning but a different variant form

treenail

vstrenail

Specialized

9.9

A wooden peg that holds wood beams together and swells when wet

is narrower, used mainly in shipbuilding not general carpentry

How Secure

bolt

Specialized

42 3.8

trenail

Archaic

9.9

dowel

Specialized

5 6.5

peg

20 2.7

Surface Forms

trenail singular

trenails plural

Morphology

trenail = tree + nail (transparent) = tree + nail

The word is historically and semantically a compound 'tree' + 'nail' meaning a wooden nail, so its meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Trenail is an old form of treenail, also called trunnel, which comes from tree + nail, meaning a wooden 'nail'. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine a wooden peg from a tree that swells when wet and so pulls timbers tight, which is exactly what a trenail does.