hammer blow


noun
  1. a blow from a hammer

  2. a severe shock or setback: Liam's death was a hammer blow

Words Nearby hammer blow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use hammer blow in a sentence

  • Festing waited anxiously, because the wheels of a locomotive when driven hard strikes what is called a hammer blow.

    The Girl From Keller's | Harold Bindloss
  • What a sledge-hammer blow (coup de massue) that has been,” he wrote to his brother; “my only hope was from France.

  • A sledge-hammer blow from Dolph's fist grazed his jaw as he sprang aside.

    Jim Spurling, Fisherman | Albert Walter Tolman
  • Just as she reared up for a sledge-hammer blow, the boy whirled squarely about and shot away to left.

    The Shadow Passes | Roy J. Snell
  • Thrown off his balance by the boy's quick avoidance of the sledge-hammer blow, Kennell stumbled forward.