blacksmith

American  

[blak-smith] / ˈblækˌsmɪθ /

noun

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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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

After some trial and error, he and a local blacksmith retrofitted a hand-cranked coffee mill so that it could efficiently twist wire into uniform barbs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

With his leg amputated, the blacksmith could no longer work and was feeling desperate.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2024

Historical markings along Caliente-Bodfish Road indicate buildings that once existed: barbershop, a blacksmith, the Grand Inn and a livery stable.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 4, 2024

Shortly afterward Hugh the blacksmith and his wife and child are being crushed by the crowds desperately pushing against the soldiers standing in the way of their freedom.

From Salon • Jul. 18, 2024

Alyce left the barn and went next to the smithy, where the manor blacksmith and his apprentices were hammering lumps of iron into shoes for horses.

From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman