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sledgehammer

[slej-ham-er]
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noun
  1. a large heavy hammer wielded with both hands.
verb (used with or without object)
  1. to hammer, beat, or strike with or as if with a sledgehammer.
adjective
  1. crudely or ruthlessly forceful; lacking all dexterity or grace: the artist's sledgehammer approach.

Origin of sledgehammer

First recorded in 1485–95; sledge2 + hammer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sledgehammer

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The word fell like a sledgehammer blow in the stillness of the room.

  • We are the anvil now; wait till our turn comes to be sledgehammer!

    Dulcibel

    Henry Peterson

  • Compressed air or steam works the drill and the sledgehammer.

    Diggers in the Earth

    Eva March Tappan

  • My heart was going like a sledgehammer as the critical moment approached.

    The Silent Bullet

    Arthur B. Reeve

  • Plury splattered like a charlotte russe hit by a sledgehammer.

    Bizarre

    Lawton Mackall

British Dictionary definitions for sledgehammer

sledgehammer

noun
  1. a large heavy hammer with a long handle used with both hands for heavy work such as forging iron, breaking rocks, etc
  2. (modifier) resembling the action of a sledgehammer in power, ruthlessness, etca sledgehammer blow
verb
  1. (tr) to strike (something) with or as if with a sledgehammer

Word Origin

C15 sledge, from Old English slecg a large hammer; related to Old Norse sleggja, Middle Dutch slegge
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

Word Origin and History for sledgehammer

n.

late 15c., from sledge (n.1) + hammer (n.). As a verb, from 1834. Old English had slegebytel "hammer," from beetle (n.2).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper