under the hammer

1. For sale, as in These paintings and Oriental rugs must come under the hammer if we're to pay the mortgage. This expression alludes to the auctioneer's hammer, which is rapped to indicate a completed transaction. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

The 1894 Zunterer violin is believed to have been Einstein's first and was initially expected to fetch around £300,000 when it went under the hammer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.

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Another letter going under the hammer is a four page letter Reggie wrote from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight to Ronnie in 1982.

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A stretch toy figure of a Marvel character, said to be "one of the rarest stretch toys in existence", is to go under the hammer at auction.

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The 1930s collection, which included a copy of Turing's PhD dissertation, went under the hammer in Etwall in Derbyshire on Tuesday.

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On 12 June, 25 rare MF Husain paintings will go under the hammer at an art gallery in Mumbai city, more than two decades after he painted them.

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