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pile driver

noun

  1. a machine for driving piles, usually composed of a tall framework in which either a weight is raised and dropped on a pile head or in which a steam hammer drives the pile.
  2. a person who operates such a machine.
  3. a person who hits or attacks forcefully or powerfully.
  4. Wrestling. a move whereby an opponent is turned upside down and slammed headfirst to the mat.
  5. British Sports. a powerful stroke, hit, kick, etc.


pile-driver

noun

  1. a machine that drives piles into the ground either by repeatedly allowing a heavy weight to fall on the head of the pile or by using a steam hammer
  2. informal.
    a forceful punch or kick
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pile driver1

First recorded in 1765–75
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Example Sentences

The sounds of construction — the slow beeps of a truck in reverse, a pile driver pounding the hard earth — filled the air.

When engineers watched the lander’s video footage of its attempt to deploy the mole, they realized something was wrong: the 16-inch-long pile driver was hammering away, but wasn’t getting anywhere.

Once the workers remove the last piles from the old pier, they’ll use a vibratory pile driver to install about 120 new steel piles.

Uses include heavy-duty equipment such as excavators for digging foundations, graders for moving soil and pile drivers for strengthening foundations.

All of that construction will require huge fleets of diesel-guzzling trucks, excavators, pile drivers, bulldozers and other equipment.

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