blacksmith

American  

[blak-smith] / ˈblækˌsmɪθ /

noun

• blacksmiths
  plural

1. a person who makes horseshoes and shoes horses.

2. a person who forges objects of iron.

3. a blackish damselfish, Chromis punctipinnis, inhabiting coastal waters off southern California.

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blacksmith British  

/ ˈblækˌsmɪθ /

noun

1. an artisan who works iron with a furnace, anvil, hammer, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• blacksmiths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of blacksmith

1250–1300; Middle English; see black (in reference to iron or black metal), smith ( def. ); cf. whitesmith

Explanation

A blacksmith is someone who makes tools and other objects out of metal. Working as a blacksmith involves heating metal then bending and hammering it into the desired shape. Blacksmiths mainly work with iron and steel, heating it until it's soft enough to bend, fold, and shape using tools. A blacksmith can make things like wrought iron fences and gates, knives and other cooking utensils, and metal light fixtures. While today many metal items once made by blacksmiths are mass produced in factories, there's a renewed interest in learning to make metal objects by hand.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blacksmith blacksmiths

He then asked a local blacksmith to turn his idea into a functional device.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

"Being able to be the blacksmith returning to Gretna after 150 years really is an honour," he added.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Guests stroll into blacksmith shops and corn mills, dine on cinnamon bread and other local delicacies, and seek quiet time in an authentic Appalachian chapel.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

In Pompeii, there are Avianius, a teenager apprenticed to a blacksmith, and Julia Felix, a rare female businesswoman who runs a kind of spa cum entertainment center for the well-to-do.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

It was as if a blacksmith had an anvil in my head.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

However, eloping couples could pop over the border and be married simply by stating their intent in front of witnesses - usually at the blacksmiths.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Metals get softer when they are heated, which is how blacksmiths can form iron into complex shapes by heating it red hot.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

The amateur blacksmiths were hard at work: heating metal rods, then hammering them into shape.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2023

They were doctors, lawyers, politicians, scientists, teachers, politicians, engineers, blacksmiths, generals, soldiers, artists, poets, writers, artisans, farmers, explorers, businesspeople, philosophers, and people from a range of other backgrounds.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2023

“Thank you, sir. Any blacksmiths ’tween here and the city?”

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis