Nearby Words

anvil

[an-vil] Example Sentences Origin

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.
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6.
Anatomy. incus (def. 1).
COLLAPSE

Origin:
before 900; Middle English anvelt, anfelt, Old English anfilt(e), anfealt; cognate with Middle Dutch anvilte, Old High German anafalz. See on, felt2
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Anvil is always a great word to know.
So is hurricane warning. Does it mean:
a National Weather Service warning of winds having speeds of 48 knots (55 mph, 25 m/sec) or greater
a storm warning given for winds with speeds exceeding 63 knots (72 mph, 32 m/sec) when the source of the winds is a tropical cyclone
Example Sentences
  • The anvil is simply a hardwood surface that supports the piece as you hammer it.
  • She is an anvil that will send his campaign into the depths of political history, never to rise again.
  • Hot coals glowed in a dark interior, where a craftsman was bent over an anvil hammering silver.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
anvil (ˈænvɪl)
 
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
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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
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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.
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Anvil definition


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

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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