doornail
/ˈdɔrˌneɪl/
noun
- A large-headed nail once used to decorate or strengthen doors.
- He ran his fingers over the cold, round head of a doornail.
- The old oak door was studded with iron doornails.
- The blacksmith forged a set of doornails for the castle gate.
- Used in the idiom 'dead as a doornail' to mean completely dead or lifeless.
- By the time the vet arrived, the hamster was dead as a doornail.
- The car engine sputtered once and then was dead as a doornail.
- After the long winter, the old oak tree in the yard was dead as a doornail.