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A doornail (coined c. 1350) is a very large studded nail on the outside of wooden doors, often used to nail on the metal strips which gave the door additional strength. They were also used as an ornamentational device. The more expensive homes had these metal, heavily-studded nails rather than wooden pegs, like the regular folks had. The doornails were 'clinched' on the inside of the door to prevent theft and give additional strength. Once clinched, the nail is 'dead', as in, it cannot be used again for that purpose.

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13y ago

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