hammerlock

or ham·mer lock

[ ham-er-lok ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Wrestling.

a hold in which one arm of an opponent is twisted and forced upward behind his back.

hammerlock

/ ˈhæməˌlɒk /

a wrestling hold in which a wrestler twists his opponent's arm upwards behind his back

First recorded in 1895–1900; hammer + lock ¹

Pandit caught the fanatic's wiry arm and brought it behind his scrawny back in a hammerlock.

The business with Hammerlock Smith had taken more time than I had thought it would.

The odd thing was that the psychopathic twist which got Hammerlock Smith into trouble had been able to get him out of it again.

It was the hammerlock and he soon had the hunchback begging for mercy.

Thus through no great skill of my own the fortunes of war had given me a hammerlock on him.

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