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Synonyms

jackhammer

American  
[jak-ham-er] / ˈdʒækˌhæm ər /

noun

jackhammers plural
  1. a portable drill operated by compressed air and used to drill rock, break up pavement, etc.


jackhammer British  
/ ˈdʒækˌhæmə /

noun

  1. a hand-held hammer drill, driven by compressed air, for drilling rocks, etc

"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 Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of jackhammer

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30; jack 1 + hammer

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

If you’re a fan of Croatia, I think you might want to stop reading here and go do something less stressful, like operating a jackhammer, or wrestling a sock drawer full of cobras.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 3, 2026

In the end, Guadagnino takes a jackhammer to everything he’s spent the last two-plus hours so meticulously building, but not quite in the way one might expect.

From Salon Sep. 25, 2025

Crucially, the song avoids the Eurovision cliches of jackhammer dance anthems and windswept balladry – something Remember Monday have in common with this year's favourites.

From BBC May 9, 2025

Let’s say you’re out on some rugged outcropping and you need to jump on your jackhammer for a few minutes.

From Slate Jul. 18, 2024

By the time they returned, my heart was thumping like a jackhammer.

From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen

The roar of bulldozers and jackhammers drilling into piles of debris is almost constant.

From BBC Apr. 10, 2025

“There will be a moment in time in 2028 when there will be no construction at LAX. There will be no jackhammers in the central terminal, there will be no orange cones,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 21, 2025

The technician positioned me to slide through the metal arc of an MRI machine while the sound of jackhammers pounded.

From Salon Sep. 30, 2024

Dump trucks rumble throughout the small city, including in front of the 160-year-old City Hall, where jackhammers and excavators claw at the pavement, following plans to green the adjacent plaza with trees and benches.

From New York Times Apr. 12, 2024

For fifteen days Frightful, with Sam’s help, sat through the blasts of the jackhammers and the rumble of trucks.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

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