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hammer definition

ham·mer (hamər)

noun

  1. a tool for pounding, usually consisting of a metal head fastened across one end of a handle: one end of the head may be a pronged claw for pulling nails
  2. a thing like this tool in shape or use; specif.,
    1. the mechanism that strikes the firing pin or percussion cap in a firearm
    2. a device for striking a bell, gong, metal bar, etc. to make a sound
    3. any of the felt-covered mallets that strike against the strings of a piano
    4. a high-speed, hammering power tool fitted with a metal block or chisel, for shaping metal, breaking up paved surfaces, etc.
  3. the malleus, one of the three bones of the middle ear
  4. an auctioneer's gavel
  5. a metal ball weighing usually sixteen pounds, hung from a wire handle and thrown for distance in a track-and-field competition

Etymology: ME hamer < OE hamor, akin to Ger hammer, ON hamarr, crag, cliff < IE *omor-, stone hammer < base *ak-m- < a-, sharp, sharp stone > Gr akmē, point, akmōn, anvil

transitive verb

  1. to strike repeatedly with or as with a hammer
  2. to make or fasten with a hammer
  3. to drive, force, or shape with or as with hammer blows to hammer an idea into someone's head

intransitive verb

to strike repeated blows with or as with a hammer

Related Forms:

hammer Idioms

hammer and tongs

Etymology: with reference to the work of a blacksmith

with all one's might; very vigorously

hammer (away) at

  1. to work continuously or energetically at
  2. to keep emphasizing or talking about

hammer out

  1. to shape, construct, or produce by hammering
  2. to make flat by hammering
  3. to take out by or as by hammering
  4. to develop or work out by careful thought or repeated effort

under the hammer

Etymology: cf. hammer above

for sale at auction

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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