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, 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

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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

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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

So when he duly exclaims “I’ve got it all,” you can practically hear the anvil of ironic doom shifting into position above his head.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025

Every fourth or fifth joke has the air of having been hammered out on an anvil, and a few might have been better left in the smithery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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

He didn’t like the flying sparks and the ringing anvil.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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

And as more enthusiasts join the fray, the price of anvils has risen.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 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

But a decade ago, researchers found, using diamond anvils at outer core conditions, that iron conducts heat at least twice as fast as previously thought.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 30, 2022

The walls rang with the sound of hammers, and burly men in leather aprons stood sweating in the sullen heat as they bent over bel-lows and anvils.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

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