triphammer

or trip ham·mer

[ trip-ham-er ]

noun

1. Machinery. a heavy hammer raised and then let fall by means of some tripping tripping trip device, as a cam.

adjective

1. of, resembling, or characteristic of the repetitive and forceful pounding of a triphammer:

   He was subjected to triphammer interrogation by the police detectives.

triphammer

/ ˈtrɪpˌhæmə /

noun

1. a power hammer that is raised or tilted by a cam and allowed to fall under gravity

Word History and Origins

Origin of triphammer¹

An Americanism dating back to 1775–85; trip ¹ + hammer

Example Sentences

For all its digits, the Multistrada retains the raw, triphammer music, the ticking of hell’s complication watch.

From Wall Street Journal

Queer, creepy feelings seized my legs, my eyes were full of solar spectrums, my throat a furnace and my heart beat like a triphammer.

From Project Gutenberg

Because it becomes alike electrified as the sun, and the law of repulsion strikes it like the blow of a mammoth triphammer and hurls it in the opposite direction.

From Project Gutenberg

He could put de glass of water on his head and make his feet go like triphammers and sound like de snaredrum.

From Project Gutenberg

Its underside buckled from triphammer contact with rock slides and a few larger logs.

From Project Gutenberg