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definitions

hammerlock

or ham·mer lock

[ham-er-lok]
|

noun Wrestling.

a hold in which one arm of an opponent is twisted and forced upward behind his back.

Origin of hammerlock

First recorded in 1895–1900; hammer + lock1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hammerlock

Historical Examples of hammerlock

  • It was the hammerlock and he soon had the hunchback begging for mercy.

  • Thus through no great skill of my own the fortunes of war had given me a hammerlock on him.

    Gold

    Stewart White

  • I turned around and I was holding Oswald trying to get his arm up behind him in a hammerlock, and I heard it click.

    Warren Commission (7 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)

    The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

  • The business with Hammerlock Smith had taken more time than I had thought it would.

    Nor Iron Bars a Cage....

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • The odd thing was that the psychopathic twist which got Hammerlock Smith into trouble had been able to get him out of it again.

    Nor Iron Bars a Cage....

    Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for hammerlock

hammerlock

noun

a wrestling hold in which a wrestler twists his opponent's arm upwards behind his back
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