an·vil

[an-vil]
noun
1.
a heavy iron block with a smooth face, frequently of steel, on which metals, usually heated until soft, are hammered into desired shapes.
2.
anything having a similar form or use.
3.
the fixed jaw in certain measuring instruments.
4.
Also called anvil cloud, anvil top. Meteorology, incus ( def 2 ).
5.
a musical percussion instrument having steel bars that are struck with a wooden or metal beater.
6.
Anatomy, incus ( def 1 ).

Origin:
before 900; Middle English anvelt, anfelt, Old English anfilt(e), anfealt; cognate with Middle Dutch anvilte, Old High German anafalz. See on, felt2

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To anvil
00:10
Anvil is always a great word to know.
So is atmospheric tide. Does it mean:
the layer of the upper atmosphere where most atmospheric ozone is concentrated, from about 8 to 30 mi. (12 to 48 km) above the earth
a movement of atmospheric masses caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon and by daily solar heating
Collins
World English Dictionary
anvil (ˈænvɪl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a heavy iron or steel block on which metals are hammered during forging
2.  any part having a similar shape or function, such as the lower part of a telegraph key
3.  the fixed jaw of a measurement device against which the piece to be measured is held
4.  anatomy the nontechnical name for incus
 
[Old English anfealt; related to Old High German anafalz, Middle Dutch anvilte; see on, felt²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

anvil
O.E. anfilte, a W.Gmc. compound (cf. M.Du. anvilt, O.H.G. anafalz, Dan. ambolt) from *ana- "on" + *filtan "hit" (see felt (n.)). Anvil Chorus is based on the "Gypsy Song" that opens Act II of Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore," first performed in Teatro Apollo, Rome, Jan. 19, 1853.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

anvil an·vil (ān'vĭl)
n.
See incus.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Anvil definition


the rendering of the Hebrew word , "beaten," found only in Isa. 41:7.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Example sentences
He imagined her little anvil-shaped head hooked in the fence.
Anvil is a synthetic compound that resembles a naturally occurring insecticide
  found in chrysanthemums.
The anvil is simply a hardwood surface that supports the piece as you hammer it.
It shows, you know, an abdication of our responsibility to want to push the
  anvil upon science.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT