hammer

¹

[ ham-er ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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 by together ):

   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 or together ):

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

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

   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 by out ):

   They hammered out their differences over a glass of beer.

   Synonyms: thrash out, solve, resolve, work out

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

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 by away ):

   He hammered away at his speech for days.

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

   The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.

Hammer

²

[ ham-er ]

noun

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

hammer

/ 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. go under the hammer or come under the hammer
    to be offered for sale by an auctioneer
11. hammer and tongs
    with great effort or energy

    fighting hammer and tongs

12. on someone's hammer slang.
    1. persistently demanding and critical of someone
    2. in hot pursuit of someone

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. introften foll byaway 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

Derived Forms

• ˈhammer-ˌlike, adjective
• ˈhammerer, noun

Other Words From

• hammer·a·ble adjective
• hammer·er noun
• hammer·like adjective
• outhammer verb (used with object)
• re·hammer verb (used with object)
• under·hammer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hammer¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of hammer¹

Old English hamor; related to Old Norse hamarr crag, Old High German hamar hammer, Old Slavonic kamy stone

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

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

More idioms and phrases containing hammer

• under the hammer

Example Sentences

A pick hammer sits at the top of the handle to allow users to break ice with a tapping motion, while the spike at the bottom offers more traditional stabbing functionality.

From Popular-Science

Complete your set with a cutting mat, metal rulers and squares, some sponges, and a rubber or wooden hammer—any other type of hammer can damage the leather.

From Popular-Science

The group, often armed with guns and other weapons such as hammers and baseball bats, regularly rallies on the grounds of the Minnesota Capitol.

From Washington Post

There were rules and if someone was acting up in the chat you dropped the hammer.

From Digiday

Papagelis joined forces in Hammer’s Lot with Ken Johnson — “Pinto Ron” — in 1992.

From Washington Post

Next, the GOP should hammer away at how our roads, bridges, and tunnels are crumbling, and push for an infrastructure initiative.

From The Daily Beast

If we enter with hammer in hand, we may leave with merely dust and rubble on our faces.

From The Daily Beast

In this way, certain cognitive mechanisms can act like a hammer too eager for nails.

From The Daily Beast

The phrase means, “the nail that sticks out always gets hit by a hammer.”

From The Daily Beast

Another surveillance video, showing the perpetrator with hammer in hand, is here.

From The Daily Beast

The noise of the hammer is always in his ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the vessel he maketh.

From Project Gutenberg

With a hammer the boy knocked off some of the slats of the small box in which Squinty had made his journey.

From Project Gutenberg

I suppose the hammer falls back more slowly from the string, and that makes the tone sing longer.

From Project Gutenberg

He was ready to drop when he reached it, and his heart beat like a hammer against his ribs.

From Project Gutenberg

And then the Monitor's deafening hammer sounded again, and after that, silence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• create
• forge