anvil

American  

[an-vil] / ˈæn vɪl /

noun

anvils plural

1. a heavy iron block with a smooth face, frequently of steel, on which metals, usually heated until soft, are hammered into desired shapes.

2. anything having a similar form or use.

3. the fixed jaw in certain measuring instruments.

4. Also called anvil cloud,.  Also called anvil top.  Meteorology. incus.

5. a musical percussion instrument having steel bars that are struck with a wooden or metal beater.

6. Anatomy. incus.

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anvil British  

/ ˈænvɪl /

noun

1. a heavy iron or steel block on which metals are hammered during forging

2. any part having a similar shape or function, such as the lower part of a telegraph key

3. the fixed jaw of a measurement device against which the piece to be measured is held

4. anatomy the nontechnical name for incus

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• anvils
  plural

Etymology

Origin of anvil

before 900; Middle English anvelt, anfelt, Old English anfilt ( e ), anfealt; cognate with Middle Dutch anvilte, Old High German anafalz. See on, felt ²

Explanation

An anvil is a heavy block of iron or steel that blacksmiths use to shape metal. It's durable enough to withstand red hot metals and repeated hammer blows, but you don't want your foot to be under if it falls off the table. We most often associate anvils with metalworking (or cartoon coyotes standing in the wrong place at the wrong time), but did you know that there is also a tiny bone in the middle ear called the anvil? It works with other small bones to transmit vibrations that allow us to hear noises. Scientists also call this bone the incus, but it got the name anvil because of its similarity to the blacksmith’s tool. They may be the same shape, but the bone weighs a few milligrams, while the tool can weigh hundreds of pounds.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anvil anvils

Nomura analysts warn more drastic measures may be on the anvil.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

The balls, which were delivered directly from the manufacturer to the officiating crew before each game, could be so stiff that kickers felt like they were driving their foot into an anvil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

Les Capon, project manager with AOC Archaeology, said he believed part of the area could have been a blacksmith's workshop after discovering evidence of a forge and an anvil.

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025

“Being back in the studio helps give me a sense of normalcy,” Berkofsky said as he hammered the red-hot Damascus steel on an anvil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025

She gripped the naked stems, the iron wires the blacksmith had drawn out on the anvil last week, just for her.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Bynum uses allusions like anvils, following up that sour note by cueing the ballad “The Beast in Me” by Nick Lowe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

What are you going to do, ban anvils?

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2023

Those standards require that helmet manufacturers evaluate their product’s safety performance by dropping a helmeted dummy head made of magnesium about 6.5 feet onto a variety of steel anvils.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2023

Each stroke Wednesday night seemed a little harder until, by the end of the match, she was delivering hammers and anvils.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2022

Johnny’s eyes flew about the shop, taking in the fine anvils, the hood upon the annealing furnace, the neat nests of crucibles.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes