sledgehammer
a large heavy hammer wielded with both hands.
to hammer, beat, or strike with or as if with a sledgehammer.
crudely or ruthlessly forceful; lacking all dexterity or grace: the artist's sledgehammer approach.
Origin of sledgehammer
1Words Nearby sledgehammer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sledgehammer in a sentence
Throughout the winter, they swam together frequently, breaking the ice with sledgehammers on particularly cold days.
At the most basic, the gear can include items like a sledgehammer, pry bar, and steel pipe.
How rescue specialists search for survivors in collapsed buildings | Rob Verger | June 29, 2021 | Popular-ScienceSo what I’m suggesting is a self-administered sledgehammer to the ideas or values behind your grievance.
Carolyn Hax: How to make acceptance a holiday tradition | Carolyn Hax | January 20, 2021 | Washington PostBeside the sledgehammer threat of the PPP tax issue, several other emergency programs for small businesses are scheduled to expire at year-end unless Congress extends them.
The IRS effectively canceled the tax break that made PPP loans so valuable | Geoffrey Colvin | December 7, 2020 | FortuneEven before the sledgehammer blow of the pandemic hit publishers, their ad revenue was being eaten away by the global tech giants.
I remember seeing that scene with the sledgehammer and being pretty shocked when I was younger.
Rob Reiner on the State of Romcoms, ‘The Princess Bride’s’ Alternate Ending, and the Red Viper | Marlow Stern | July 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn Thursday sledgehammer games released a teaser for the “new era” of Call of Duty, which is set for release this November.
Kevin Spacey and the Most Inexplicable Celebrity Video Game Cameos | Amy Zimmerman | May 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDemocrats, until this week wholly on the defensive, have now been handed a huge sledgehammer.
And not only has France failed to mend, it has picked up a sledgehammer.
Ten Years of Religious Discrimination in France | Anika J. Hermann, Hansdeep Singh, Jaspreet Singh | March 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTUgh, that scene where she puts the block of wood in between his ankles and just smashes them with a sledgehammer … Ugh.
‘Kick-Ass 2’ Star Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Favorite Movie Villains | Christopher Mintz-Plasse | August 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOne was the presence of a German shepherd dog in the laboratory, its head crushed as if with a sledgehammer.
The Day Time Stopped Moving | Bradner BucknerDark, and shining like wet rubber, the shape resembled nothing so much as that of a great, double-headed sledgehammer.
Wild Folk | Samuel ScovilleFor myself, though I received only a backhanded blow on the chest, I staggered as if I had been struck with a sledgehammer.
In the Days of My Youth | Amelia Ann Blandford EdwardsNot one of his sledgehammer smashes reached their mark, and the round closed without a blow having landed.
The Trail of '98 | Robert W. ServiceUp went a sledgehammer hand, coated with red hair, to scratch the heavy jowl contemplatively, and Max thought of a gorilla.
A Soldier of the Legion | C. N. Williamson
British Dictionary definitions for sledgehammer
/ (ˈslɛdʒˌhæmə) /
a large heavy hammer with a long handle used with both hands for heavy work such as forging iron, breaking rocks, etc
(modifier) resembling the action of a sledgehammer in power, ruthlessness, etc: a sledgehammer blow
(tr) to strike (something) with or as if with a sledgehammer
Origin of sledgehammer
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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