horse nails
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
At the game of cribbage, when a player finds it his policy to keep his antagonist back, rather than push himself forward, and plays accordingly, he is sometimes said "to feed his opponent on HORSE NAILS."
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Where it’s used:
Origin
British & Irish English
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “horse nails” mean?
At the game of cribbage, when a player finds it his policy to keep his antagonist back, rather than push himself forward, and plays accordingly, he is sometimes said "to feed his opponent on HORSE NAILS."
Is “horse nails” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.