hammer

[ ham-er ]
See synonyms for hammer on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. 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.

  2. one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  1. to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often followed by together): He hammered together a small crate.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. to produce with or by force (often followed by out): to hammer out a tune on the piano; to hammer a home run.

  5. to pound or hit forcefully: to hammer someone in the jaw.

  6. 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.

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

  8. to impress (something) as if by hammer blows: You'll have to hammer the rules into his head.

  9. British.

    • (in the London stock exchange) to dismiss (a person) from membership because of default.

    • 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.

  1. to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often followed by away): The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.

Idioms about hammer

  1. under the hammer, for sale at public auction: The old estate and all its furnishings went under the hammer.

Origin of hammer

1
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”

Other words for hammer

Other words from hammer

  • ham·mer·a·ble, adjective
  • ham·mer·er, noun
  • ham·mer·like, adjective
  • outhammer, verb (used with object)
  • re·ham·mer, verb (used with object)
  • un·der·ham·mer, noun

Other definitions for Hammer (2 of 2)

Hammer
[ ham-er ]

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hammer in a sentence

  • The worst of all, however, is the hammering when the cracks in the deck are being repaired and filled up with pitch.

  • The shaping of his clubs previously had been done by a rude tearing or hammering off of their twigs.

    Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris
  • When this is completed, the crab commences hammering with its heavy claws on one of the eye-holes till an opening is made.

  • She once showed him how a shirt might be smoothed by folding it properly and hammering it with a piece of wood.

    Robert Moffat | David J. Deane
  • Sharp hammering at the door, long continued, finally brought an end to Barrington's nightmare hours and Seth's deep slumbers.

    The Light That Lures | Percy Brebner

British Dictionary definitions for hammer

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

  1. 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

  2. a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin

  3. athletics

    • a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions

    • the event or sport of throwing the hammer

  4. an auctioneer's gavel

  5. a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate

  6. anatomy the nontechnical name for malleus

  7. curling the last stone thrown in an end

  8. go under the hammer or come under the hammer to be offered for sale by an auctioneer

  9. hammer and tongs with great effort or energy: fighting hammer and tongs

  10. on someone's hammer Australian and NZ slang

    • persistently demanding and critical of someone

    • 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

  1. (tr; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition

  2. (intr) to feel or sound like hammering: his pulse was hammering

  3. (intr often foll by away) to work at constantly

  4. (tr) British

    • to question in a relentless manner

    • to criticize severely

  5. informal to inflict a defeat on

  6. (tr) slang to beat, punish, or chastise

  7. (tr) stock exchange

    • to announce the default of (a member)

    • to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling

Origin of hammer

1
Old English hamor; related to Old Norse hamarr crag, Old High German hamar hammer, Old Slavonic kamy stone

Derived forms of hammer

  • hammerer, noun
  • hammer-like, adjective

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with hammer

hammer

In addition to the idioms beginning with hammer

  • hammer and tongs
  • hammer away at
  • hammer out

also see:

  • under the hammer

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.