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• hammer
  hammer

  noun

  a tool consisting of a solid head, usually of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for beating metals, driving nails, etc.
• Hammer
  Hammer

  noun

  Armand, 1898–1990, U.S. businessman and art patron.

hammer

¹ American  

[ham-er] / ˈhæm ər /

noun

• hammers
  plural

1. a tool consisting of a solid head, usually of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for beating metals, driving nails, etc.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.

5. 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.

6. Anatomy. the malleus.

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verb (used with object)

• hammers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hammered,
  past participle,  past
• hammering
  present participle

1. to beat or drive (a nail, peg, etc.) with a hammer.

2. 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.

3. to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often followed bytogether ).

   He hammered together a small crate.

4. 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.

5. to form, construct, or make with or as if with a hammer; build by repeated, vigorous, or strenuous effort (often followed by out ortogether ).

   to hammer out an agreement; to hammer together a plot.

6. to produce with or by force (often followed byout ).

   to hammer out a tune on the piano; to hammer a home run.

   Synonyms:

   bang, knock

7. to pound or hit forcefully.

   to hammer someone in the jaw.

   Synonyms:

   strike, bang, knock

8. to settle (a strong disagreement, argument, etc.); bring to an end, as by strenuous or repeated effort (usually followed byout ).

   They hammered out their differences over a glass of beer.

   Synonyms:

   work out, thrash out, solve, resolve

9. to present (points in an argument, an idea, etc.) forcefully or compellingly; state strongly, aggressively, and effectively (often followed byhome ).

10. to impress (something) as if by hammer blows.

    You'll have to hammer the rules into his head.

11. British.

    1. (in the London stock exchange) to dismiss (a person) from membership because of default.

    2. to depress the price of (a stock).

verb (used without object)

• hammers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hammered,
  past participle,  past
• hammering
  present participle

1. to strike blows with or as if with a hammer.

2. to make persistent or laborious attempts to finish or perfect something (sometimes followed byaway ).

   He hammered away at his speech for days.

3. to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often followed byaway ).

   The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.

idioms

1. under the hammer, for sale at public auction.

   The old estate and all its furnishings went under the hammer.

Hammer ² American  

[ham-er] / ˈhæm ər /

noun

1. Armand, 1898–1990, U.S. businessman and art patron.

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hammer British  

/ ˈhæmə /

noun

1. 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

2. any tool or device with a similar function, such as the moving part of a door knocker, the striking head on a bell, etc

3. 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

4. a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin

5. athletics

   1. a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions

   2. the event or sport of throwing the hammer

6. an auctioneer's gavel

7. a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate

8. anatomy the nontechnical name for malleus

9. curling the last stone thrown in an end

10. to be offered for sale by an auctioneer

11. with great effort or energy

    fighting hammer and tongs

12. slang

    1. persistently demanding and critical of someone

    2. in hot pursuit of someone

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verb

1. to strike or beat (a nail, wood, etc) with or as if with a hammer

2. (tr) to shape or fashion with or as if with a hammer

3. (tr; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition

4. (intr) to feel or sound like hammering

   his pulse was hammering

5. to work at constantly

6. (tr)

   1. to question in a relentless manner

   2. to criticize severely

7. informal to inflict a defeat on

8. slang (tr) to beat, punish, or chastise

9. (tr) stock exchange

   1. to announce the default of (a member)

   2. to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling

hammer More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing hammer

• under the hammer

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hammerer
  noun
• underhammer
  noun
• outhammer
  verb (used with object)
• rehammer
  verb (used with object)
• hammer-like
  adjective
• hammerable
  adjective
• hammerlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hammers
  plural

Participles

• hammering
  present
• hammered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hammer
  simple
• hammers
  simple
• have hammered
  perfect
• has hammered
  perfect
• am hammering
  progressive
• are hammering
  progressive
• is hammering
  progressive
• have been hammering
  perfect progressive
• has been hammering
  perfect progressive

Past

• hammered
  simple
• had hammered
  perfect
• was hammering
  progressive
• were hammering
  progressive
• had been hammering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hammer
  simple
• will have hammered
  perfect
• will be hammering
  progressive
• will have been hammering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of hammer

First recorded before 1000; Middle English hamer, Old English hamor; cognate with German Hammer “hammer,” Old Norse hamarr “hammer, crag”; originally, a stone weapon; probably akin to Russian kámen' “stone”

Explanation

A hammer is a tool you can use to drive nails into wood or other materials. You'll find a hammer in just about any toolbox, since it's useful for hanging pictures, making repairs, or breaking things apart. When you hit a nail again and again with a hammer, you hammer it. Other kinds of hammers include the part of a gun that swings forcefully when the trigger is pulled; the padded striker in a piano that hits a string when a note is played; and a Marvel Comics supervillain whose partner in crime is named Anvil. There's also the hammerhead shark, named for the odd, hammer-like shape of its head.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hammer Hammer hammers hammered hammering

As Renee DiResta, associate professor at Georgetown University, told me, generative AI is a tool: “You can take a hammer and build a house with it, or you can use it as a weapon, right?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada's Camryn Rogers produced another Games record - 74.91m.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

But it is also the quieter skill of noticing when the building is complete and putting down the hammer.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

Their analysis revealed distinctive notches, impact damage and other signs that the object had repeatedly been used as a hammer.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

Every time the hammer hits something, it turns into a bolt of lightning.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

“You can really see the impact she had on them,” said Kellie Jones, a scholar and independent curator who organized “Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980” at the Hammer Museum in 2011.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Citizen Vigilante, a film from German director Uwe Boll and starring actor Armie Hammer, is violent – and very schlocky – stuff.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

He nevertheless promises that, being tight with the Hammer, he can help Gail fulfill her dreams.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

“Clinton, Biden, Trump, you never see them on the front lines of any battle,” Hammer says early in the film.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

That’s how my parents met—Myron was going to represent the teen tennis sensation Kitty Hammer, aka my mother.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben

The rhythmic clanging of hammers on bronze echoes through the Istanbul workshop where three craftsmen are landing blows with astonishing precision to transform featureless metal discs into highly prized handcrafted cymbals.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Friday’s broadcast ended with a literal bang, with Colbert, Daniels and White taking hammers to the talk show set and setting it ablaze.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026

The other reason was we were hammers and so we saw everything as a nail.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

Among the works is a giant dinosaur fossil made from hammers, knives and spanners, a snake made from an old bicycle chain and a bull's nostrils formed from a vintage gas mask.

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026

The tools looked clean and well-oiled, saws, hammers, pliers, axes, mallets, planes, drills, screwdrivers, a level.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

He wrote in a social-media post Saturday night that Iran and other Middle East countries had urged him to cancel his attack because the “perimeters of a deal” had been hammered out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Fresh from impressing Iraola in New York, Chambers hammered home from inside the box in the seventh minute after Milos Kerkez got a touch on Szoboszlai's corner.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Last year, for example, at his Miami waterfront estate, Witkoff hammered out a plan with Russia’s Dmitriev for $300 billion in joint Russia–U.S. investment projects—which would come to fruition after some possible future peace.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

Echoing that signature yellow hue: a walnut island, a hammered barrel-vaulted copper hood, a copper farmhouse sink and replicated 1920s cabinetry painted “Matchstick” by Farrow & Ball.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Across the semicircular door were signs hammered across the entire surface.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

After punching out the raised bell and cutting it to size, what looks like the now recognisable cymbal must undergo the all-important hammering process.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

The thud of a hammering Hulksmash rattles our seats; later, a cocked rifle is so crisp we perk up like a dog hearing the mailman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

But Stevens more aptly fits the conventional understanding of electable, a point that her campaign is hammering home as its closing message.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

Walking back to the car, weeping behind my sunglasses, I was shaky and hot and breathless, my heart hammering in my chest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

The guy looks over, pauses in his hammering.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• create
• forge