hammer
a tool consisting of a solid head, usually of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for beating metals, driving nails, etc.
any of various instruments or devices resembling this in form, action, or use, as a gavel, a mallet for playing the xylophone, or a lever that strikes the bell in a doorbell.
Firearms. the part of a lock that by its fall or action causes the discharge, as by exploding the percussion cap or striking the primer or firing pin; the cock.
one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.
Track. a metal ball, usually weighing 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms), attached to a steel wire at the end of which is a grip, for throwing for distance in the hammer throw.
Anatomy. the malleus.
to beat or drive (a nail, peg, etc.) with a hammer.
to fasten by using hammer and nails; nail (often followed by down, up, etc.): We spent the day hammering up announcements on fences and trees.
to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often followed by together): He hammered together a small crate.
to shape or ornament (metal or a metal object) by controlled and repeated blows of a hammer; beat out: to hammer brass; to hammer a brass bowl.
to form, construct, or make with or as if with a hammer; build by repeated, vigorous, or strenuous effort (often followed by out or together): to hammer out an agreement; to hammer together a plot.
to produce with or by force (often followed by out): to hammer out a tune on the piano; to hammer a home run.
to pound or hit forcefully: to hammer someone in the jaw.
to settle (a strong disagreement, argument, etc.); bring to an end, as by strenuous or repeated effort (usually followed by out): They hammered out their differences over a glass of beer.
to present (points in an argument, an idea, etc.) forcefully or compellingly; state strongly, aggressively, and effectively (often followed by home).
to impress (something) as if by hammer blows: You'll have to hammer the rules into his head.
British.
(in the London stock exchange) to dismiss (a person) from membership because of default.
to depress the price of (a stock).
to strike blows with or as if with a hammer.
to make persistent or laborious attempts to finish or perfect something (sometimes followed by away): He hammered away at his speech for days.
to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often followed by away): The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.
Idioms about hammer
under the hammer, for sale at public auction: The old estate and all its furnishings went under the hammer.
Origin of hammer
1Other words for hammer
| 12, 13 | knock, bang |
| 13 | strike |
| 14 | resolve, solve, thrash out, work out |
Other words from hammer
- ham·mer·a·ble, adjective
- ham·mer·er, noun
- ham·mer·like, adjective
- outhammer, verb (used with object)
- re·ham·mer, verb (used with object)
- un·der·ham·mer, noun
Words Nearby hammer
Other definitions for Hammer (2 of 2)
Armand, 1898–1990, U.S. businessman and art patron.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use hammer in a sentence
A pick hammer sits at the top of the handle to allow users to break ice with a tapping motion, while the spike at the bottom offers more traditional stabbing functionality.
Best ice pick: A versatile winter tool for camping and more | PopSci Commerce Team | February 25, 2021 | Popular-ScienceComplete your set with a cutting mat, metal rulers and squares, some sponges, and a rubber or wooden hammer—any other type of hammer can damage the leather.
Everything you need to know to start leatherworking | Sandra Gutierrez G. | February 19, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe group, often armed with guns and other weapons such as hammers and baseball bats, regularly rallies on the grounds of the Minnesota Capitol.
Americans across the political spectrum fear what the Capitol attack portends | Annie Gowen, Jenna Johnson, Holly Bailey | January 12, 2021 | Washington PostThere were rules and if someone was acting up in the chat you dropped the hammer.
‘The reality is we have to be professional’: Confessions of an ad exec on working amid the chaos at the Capitol | Kristina Monllos | January 11, 2021 | DigidayPapagelis joined forces in hammer’s Lot with Ken Johnson — “Pinto Ron” — in 1992.
‘Bills Mafia’ waited a generation for a team like this. It’s had to embrace it from afar. | Adam Kilgore | January 7, 2021 | Washington Post
Next, the GOP should hammer away at how our roads, bridges, and tunnels are crumbling, and push for an infrastructure initiative.
Bush, Christie, Romney: Who’ll Be the GOP Class Warrior? | Lloyd Green | December 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf we enter with hammer in hand, we may leave with merely dust and rubble on our faces.
In this way, certain cognitive mechanisms can act like a hammer too eager for nails.
Why Are Millennials Unfriending Organized Religion? | Vlad Chituc | November 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe phrase means, “the nail that sticks out always gets hit by a hammer.”
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun | Katie Baker | November 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnother surveillance video, showing the perpetrator with hammer in hand, is here.
Is Brooklyn Becoming Unsafe for Gays? It Depends On Which Ones | Jay Michaelson | October 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe noise of the hammer is always in his ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the vessel he maketh.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousWith a hammer the boy knocked off some of the slats of the small box in which Squinty had made his journey.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumI suppose the hammer falls back more slowly from the string, and that makes the tone sing longer.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayHe was ready to drop when he reached it, and his heart beat like a hammer against his ribs.
And then the Monitor's deafening hammer sounded again, and after that, silence.
British Dictionary definitions for hammer
/ (ˈhæmə) /
a hand tool consisting of a heavy usually steel head held transversely on the end of a handle, used for driving in nails, beating metal, etc
any tool or device with a similar function, such as the moving part of a door knocker, the striking head on a bell, etc
a power-driven striking tool, esp one used in forging. A pneumatic hammer delivers a repeated blow from a pneumatic ram, a drop hammer uses the energy of a falling weight
a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin
athletics
a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions
the event or sport of throwing the hammer
an auctioneer's gavel
a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate
anatomy the nontechnical name for malleus
curling the last stone thrown in an end
go under the hammer or come under the hammer to be offered for sale by an auctioneer
hammer and tongs with great effort or energy: fighting hammer and tongs
on someone's hammer Australian and NZ slang
persistently demanding and critical of someone
in hot pursuit of someone
to strike or beat (a nail, wood, etc) with or as if with a hammer
(tr) to shape or fashion with or as if with a hammer
(tr; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition
(intr) to feel or sound like hammering: his pulse was hammering
(intr often foll by away) to work at constantly
(tr) British
to question in a relentless manner
to criticize severely
informal to inflict a defeat on
(tr) slang to beat, punish, or chastise
(tr) stock exchange
to announce the default of (a member)
to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling
Origin of hammer
1- See also hammer out
Derived forms of hammer
- hammerer, noun
- hammer-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with hammer
In addition to the idioms beginning with hammer
- hammer and tongs
- hammer away at
- hammer out
also see:
- under the hammer
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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