hammock
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hammock
First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish hamaca, from Taíno (Hispaniola)
Explanation
A hammock is a rope or canvas bed that hangs from a stand, two trees, or another support. You might enjoy reading a book while lying in a hammock under a shady tree. Most people use hammocks to nap or relax, rather than sleeping in them all night, and many kids enjoy swinging back and forth in a hammock. In some cultures and special situations, hammocks have been used for regular sleeping — for example, hammocks were once commonly found on ships, providing sailors with easily portable beds. Hammock comes from the Spanish hamaca, a variation on the Taino hamaka, "fish nets."
Vocabulary lists containing hammock
The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
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Vocabulary from Academy Award Nominees and Winners
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The Lions of Little Rock
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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.
Cellular carriers will promise a 5G utopia full of doctors performing robotic surgeries while they lie on a hammock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
For Harleymoon, the experience of having nothing besides a few bananas and a hammock "in the middle of nowhere" sparked deep self-reflection.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
“Allowing myself to go outside and read in the hammock in the middle of the day or take a walk — it felt indulgent,” she says.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025
The other shows them on a hammock, with Woods lying on his back and Trump with her head resting on his chest and her arm draped around him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2025
José Arcadio Buendía, with the copy of the order in his hand, found him taking his nap in a hammock he had set up in the narrow office.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
