hammerer

Variant of hammer

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

Origin: 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:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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