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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

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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”

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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

Also under the deal, FAA managers and union representatives will hammer out new shift guidelines to maximize staffing during high traffic volumes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He was a hammer meeting a nail, traveling to the run down parts of towns all over America to shore things up — to entertain rather than win over audiences.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

The initial phase of contract talks still would have union and county representatives seeking to hammer out a mutually beneficial deal, with a presumption that both sides would negotiate in good faith.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Also among the items due to go under the hammer is a pair of Adidas Kegler Super Ostrich trainers gifted to Noel Gallagher.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Some days he had headaches that, he said, "gave me a feeling as if I had been struck a light blow with a hammer."

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

With a Metro D Line station planned nearby, Ryan expects the Hammer to become a point of entry to the neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Alongside its longstanding classroom-in-residence program, in which fourth- through sixth-grade classes spend a week at the museum, the Hammer piloted its classroom partnership program under Ryan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

A year later, he signed a record deal, and scored a top 10 hit in Sweden with a cover of The Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer, but his career as a solo artist was short lived.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Athena and Hammer from the Gladiators TV show sent off over 2,000 young runners in the AJ Bell Junior and Mini Great Scottish Run on Glasgow Green.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

When he came back—yes, the Mike Hammer was just over.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Recovery is well underway, with the sounds of hammers, saws and nail guns ringing through the air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

“You think you’re going to go there and the hammers and the screwdrivers will still be hanging on the wall?” he asked her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

At the lows during April and May 2024, the stock displayed consecutive bullish hammers along with clusters of dojis and spinning tops, in March-April 2025.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

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

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

Percy heard the clank of hammers at a forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

Chwalinska, 25, felt a few nerves as she closed in on her first WTA 1,000 title, but took her third championship point when Kartal hammered a forehand long.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

“His anthem, his law, hammered, hammered, into me.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Even though “housing demand is being hammered, housing supply is also weak,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

India's men hammered Sri Lanka by 124 runs after Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the semi-finals.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

It was a very beautiful thing, this Golden Ticket, having been made, so it seemed, from a sheet of pure gold hammered out almost to the thinness of paper.

From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl

Tech firms took a hammering on Tuesday amid concerns about China's progress in developing AI chips and following comments by Broadcom's boss likening the AI buying frenzy to gambling.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

This means that, as with its social media ban, the government is looking to bring in legislation before fully hammering out the specifics of how it would work.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Hobson added that her focus has been on hammering home the museum’s populist themes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

No one knows, but all the flailing, hammering, digging and burrowing are for naught.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

I lurched upward in bed, heart hammering, my body soaked in sweat, only to find my husband curled in comfortable sleep beside me.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• create
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