a tool consisting of a solid head, usually of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for beating metals, driving nails, etc.
any of various instruments or devices resembling this in form, action, or use, as a gavel, a mallet for playing the xylophone, or a lever that strikes the bell in a doorbell.
Firearms. the part of a lock that by its fall or action causes the discharge, as by exploding the percussion cap or striking the primer or firing pin; the cock.
one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.
Track. a metal ball, usually weighing 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms), attached to a steel wire at the end of which is a grip, for throwing for distance in the hammer throw.
Anatomy. the malleus.
to beat or drive (a nail, peg, etc.) with a hammer.
to fasten by using hammer and nails; nail (often followed by down, up, etc.).
We spent the day hammering up announcements on fences and trees.
to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often followed bytogether ).
He hammered together a small crate.
to shape or ornament (metal or a metal object) by controlled and repeated blows of a hammer; beat out.
to hammer brass; to hammer a brass bowl.
to form, construct, or make with or as if with a hammer; build by repeated, vigorous, or strenuous effort (often followed by out ortogether ).
to hammer out an agreement; to hammer together a plot.
to produce with or by force (often followed byout ).
to hammer out a tune on the piano; to hammer a home run.
to pound or hit forcefully.
to hammer someone in the jaw.
to settle (a strong disagreement, argument, etc.); bring to an end, as by strenuous or repeated effort (usually followed byout ).
They hammered out their differences over a glass of beer.
to present (points in an argument, an idea, etc.) forcefully or compellingly; state strongly, aggressively, and effectively (often followed byhome ).
to impress (something) as if by hammer blows.
You'll have to hammer the rules into his head.
British.
(in the London stock exchange) to dismiss (a person) from membership because of default.
to depress the price of (a stock).
to strike blows with or as if with a hammer.
to make persistent or laborious attempts to finish or perfect something (sometimes followed byaway ).
He hammered away at his speech for days.
to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often followed byaway ).
The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.
a hand tool consisting of a heavy usually steel head held transversely on the end of a handle, used for driving in nails, beating metal, etc
any tool or device with a similar function, such as the moving part of a door knocker, the striking head on a bell, etc
a power-driven striking tool, esp one used in forging. A pneumatic hammer delivers a repeated blow from a pneumatic ram, a drop hammer uses the energy of a falling weight
a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin
athletics
a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions
the event or sport of throwing the hammer
an auctioneer's gavel
a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate
anatomy the nontechnical name for malleus
curling the last stone thrown in an end
to be offered for sale by an auctioneer
with great effort or energy
fighting hammer and tongs
slang
persistently demanding and critical of someone
in hot pursuit of someone
to strike or beat (a nail, wood, etc) with or as if with a hammer
(tr) to shape or fashion with or as if with a hammer
(tr; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition
(intr) to feel or sound like hammering
his pulse was hammering
to work at constantly
(tr)
to question in a relentless manner
to criticize severely
informal to inflict a defeat on
slang (tr) to beat, punish, or chastise
(tr) stock exchange
to announce the default of (a member)
to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling
First recorded before 1000; Middle English hamer, Old English hamor; cognate with German Hammer “hammer,” Old Norse hamarr “hammer, crag”; originally, a stone weapon; probably akin to Russian kámen' “stone”
A hammer is a tool you can use to drive nails into wood or other materials. You'll find a hammer in just about any toolbox, since it's useful for hanging pictures, making repairs, or breaking things apart. When you hit a nail again and again with a hammer, you hammer it. Other kinds of hammers include the part of a gun that swings forcefully when the trigger is pulled; the padded striker in a piano that hits a string when a note is played; and a Marvel Comics supervillain whose partner in crime is named Anvil. There's also the hammerhead shark, named for the odd, hammer-like shape of its head.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Archaeologists have identified a prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone that dates back almost 500,000 years.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Thor then makes the former Captain America take hold of his hammer, Mjölnir, to prove his identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Arrabaca had two axes, a hammer, a machete, six fireworks and three fixed-blade knives, Barnacle said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Pele’s 1958 World Cup jersey goes under the hammer.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
I run all the way back to my house, run so hard my heart tries to hammer its way out my chest, and a cramp in my side steals away my breath.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
“You can really see the impact she had on them,” said Kellie Jones, a scholar and independent curator who organized “Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980” at the Hammer Museum in 2011.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Citizen Vigilante, a film from German director Uwe Boll and starring actor Armie Hammer, is violent – and very schlocky – stuff.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, the country’s largest nuclear research complex, in central Iran, was struck by submarine-launched cruise missiles during Midnight Hammer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Clinton, Biden, Trump, you never see them on the front lines of any battle,” Hammer says early in the film.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
Last came King Robert’s Hammer, the might of the royal fleet ... or at least that portion that had not fled to Dragonstone last year with Stannis.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
More recently, the stock has been building a base near its rising 50-week SMA, with higher lows reinforced by bullish hammers and a harami between May and July 2024, followed by a doji in October.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
The other reason was we were hammers and so we saw everything as a nail.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
Among the works is a giant dinosaur fossil made from hammers, knives and spanners, a snake made from an old bicycle chain and a bull's nostrils formed from a vintage gas mask.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
He plays an urgent rendition of Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie,” where the bass hammers with punk-like aggression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
Jud and Frank were building some enormous, ramshackle, modernistic structure out on Commons lawn, and the hammers and the power drills had started early in the morning.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Last year, for example, at his Miami waterfront estate, Witkoff hammered out a plan with Russia’s Dmitriev for $300 billion in joint Russia–U.S. investment projects—which would come to fruition after some possible future peace.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Echoing that signature yellow hue: a walnut island, a hammered barrel-vaulted copper hood, a copper farmhouse sink and replicated 1920s cabinetry painted “Matchstick” by Farrow & Ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“We’ve been hammered by rate increases for years,” said Danny Veseth of Milwaukee, Wis. “Leaner means increased affordability.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
So it was a big deal when they hammered their old rivals in the British Home Championship 5-0 at Hampden Park in 1888, before England even had a football league.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Crab hammered one fist into the other palm for emphasis.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
Thanks to the constant hammering of the helicopters, “it was like ‘Apocalypse Now,’ ” Andy Warhol wrote in his diary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
From Germany's 7-1 rout of debutants Curacao in Houston on 14 June to Canada's 6-0 hammering of Qatar in Vancouver four days later, there has been an avalanche of goals.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Researchers are still hammering out the kinks with error correction, though recent milestones show clear progress.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Frankly, the dorky version of Adam is more fun than the heroic He-Man, even with Knight hammering us every minute to laugh that he’s a total weakling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
It was hot and muggy, and Natalie was panting and sweating by the time they finished hammering.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
