Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Stub \Stub\, n. [OE. stubbe, AS. stub, styb; akin to D. stobbe,
   LG. stubbe, Dan. stub, Sw. stubbe, Icel. stubbr, stubbi; cf.
   Gr. ?.]
   1. The stump of a tree; that part of a tree or plant which
      remains fixed in the earth when the stem is cut down; --
      applied especially to the stump of a small tree, or shrub.

            Stubs sharp and hideous to behold.    --Chaucer.

            And prickly stubs instead of trees are found.
                                                  --Dryden.

   2. A log; a block; a blockhead. [Obs.] --Milton.

   3. The short blunt part of anything after larger part has
      been broken off or used up; hence, anything short and
      thick; as, the stub of a pencil, candle, or cigar.

   4. A part of a leaf in a check book, after a check is torn
      out, on which the number, amount, and destination of the
      check are usually recorded.

   5. A pen with a short, blunt nib.

   6. A stub nail; an old horseshoe nail; also, stub iron.

   {Stub end} (Mach.), the enlarged end of a connecting rod, to
      which the strap is fastened.

   {Stub iron}, iron made from stub nails, or old horseshoe
      nails, -- used in making gun barrels.

   {Stub mortise} (Carp.), a mortise passing only partly through
      the timber in which it is formed.

   {Stub nail}, an old horseshoe nail; a nail broken off; also,
      a short, thick nail.

   {Stub short}, or {Stub shot} (Lumber Manuf.), the part of the
      end of a sawn log or plank which is beyond the place where
      the saw kerf ends, and which retains the plank in
      connection with the log, until it is split off.

   {Stub twist}, material for a gun barrel, made of a spirally
      welded ribbon of steel and stub iron combined.

Source : WordNet®

stub nail
     n : a short thick nail