battering ram
Americannoun
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an ancient military device with a heavy horizontal ram for battering down walls, gates, etc.
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any of various similar devices, usually machine-powered, used in demolition, by police and firefighters to force entrance to a building, etc.
noun
Etymology
Origin of battering ram
First recorded in 1605–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was his own battering ram: he put his head down and strode.
From Literature
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Seattle inexplicably decided to throw instead of handing off to battering ram Marshawn Lynch, who was all but automatic in short-yardage situations.
From Los Angeles Times
Two balls into Australia's Plan B, one that reduced the series' best bowler in Starc to a battering ram, Brook backed away and almost top-edged a catch to the fielder lurking at third.
From BBC
Most humans would rather be a doormat than a battering ram, regardless of the urgency or circumstance.
From Los Angeles Times
While leaning on a partner for support during the holidays is natural and even healthy, using them as an emotional battering ram is not.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.