ham·mer
(hăm′ər)n.1. A hand tool consisting of a handle with a head of metal or other heavy rigid material that is attached at a right angle, used for striking or pounding.
2. A tool or device similar in function or action to this striking tool, as:
a. The part of a gunlock that hits the primer or firing pin or explodes the percussion cap and causes the gun to fire.
b. Music One of the padded wooden pieces of a piano that strikes the strings.
c. A part of an apparatus that strikes a gong or bell, as in a clock.
4. Sports A metal ball weighing 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms) and having a long wire or wooden handle by which it is thrown for distance in track-and-field competition.
5. A small mallet used by auctioneers.
v. ham·mered, ham·mer·ing, ham·mers
v.tr.1. a. To hit, especially repeatedly, with a hammer; pound. See Synonyms at
beat.
b. To strike forcefully and repeatedly: hooves hammering the ground.
c. To assault with military force: hammered the position with artillery shells.
2. a. To beat into a shape with a hammer or similar tool: hammered the metal into a goblet.
b. To accomplish or produce with difficulty or effort. Often used with out: hammer out an agreement.
3. To put together, fasten, or seal, particularly with nails, by hammering.
4. To force upon (someone) by constant repetition: hammered the information into the students' heads.
5. a. To cause harm, loss, or difficulty to (someone), especially repeatedly: investors hammered in the bear market.
b. To defeat soundly: got hammered in the playoffs.
c. To attack verbally: a politician hammered in the press
v.intr.1. To deal repeated blows with or as if with a hammer; pummel: "Wind hammered at us violently in gusts" (Thor Heyerdahl).
2. To undergo beating in the manner of a hammer: My pulse hammered.
3. Informal To keep at something continuously. Often used with away: hammered away at the problem.
Idiom: under the hammer For sale at an auction.
ham′mer·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hammer
(ˈhæmə) n1. (Tools) 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. (Mechanical Engineering) any tool or device with a similar function, such as the moving part of a door knocker, the striking head on a bell, etc
3. (Mechanical Engineering) 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
4. (Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin
5. (Athletics (Track & Field))
athletics a. a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions
b. the event or sport of throwing the hammer
6. an auctioneer's gavel
7. (Instruments) a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate
8. (Anatomy)
anatomy the nontechnical name for
malleus 9. (Curling) curling the last stone thrown in an end
10. (Commerce) go under the hammer come under the hammer to be offered for sale by an auctioneer
11. hammer and tongs with great effort or energy: fighting hammer and tongs.
12. on someone's hammer slang a. persistently demanding and critical of someone
b. in hot pursuit of someone
vb13. to strike or beat (a nail, wood, etc) with or as if with a hammer
14. (tr) to shape or fashion with or as if with a hammer
15. (tr; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition
16. (intr) to feel or sound like hammering: his pulse was hammering.
17. (often foll by: away) to work at constantly
18. (
tr)
a. to question in a relentless manner
b. to criticize severely
19. informal to inflict a defeat on
20. (tr) slang to beat, punish, or chastise
21. (Stock Exchange) (
tr)
stock exchange a. to announce the default of (a member)
b. to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling
[Old English hamor; related to Old Norse hamarr crag, Old High German hamar hammer, Old Slavonic kamy stone]
ˈhammerer n
ˈhammer-ˌlike adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ham•mer
(ˈhæm ər)
n. 1. a tool consisting of a solid head, usu. of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for driving nails, beating metals, 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 one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.
3. the part of a lock of a firearm that strikes the primer or firing pin, explodes the percussion cap, etc., and causes the discharge; cock.
4. a metal ball, usu. weighing 16 lb. (7.3 kg), attached to a steel wire at the end of which is a grip, for throwing in the hammer throw.
v.t. 6. to beat or drive (a nail, peg, etc.) with a hammer.
7. to fasten by using hammer and nails; nail (often fol. by down, up, etc.).
8. to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often fol. by together).
9. to beat out: to hammer brass.
10. to form or construct by repeated, vigorous, or strenuous effort (often fol. by out or together): to hammer out an agreement.
11. to pound or hit forcefully (often fol. by out): to hammer out a tune on the piano.
12. to settle or resolve, as by strenuous or repeated effort (usu. fol. by out): They hammered out their differences at last.
13. to present (points in an argument, an idea, etc.) forcefully or compellingly: hammering home the need for action.
14. to impress (something) as if by hammer blows: to hammer rules into someone's head.
v.i. 15. to strike blows with or as if with a hammer.
16. to make persistent or laborious attempts to finish or perfect something (sometimes fol. by away): She hammered away at her speech for days.
17. to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often fol. by away).
Idioms: under the hammer, for sale at public auction.
[before 1000; Middle English hamer, Old English hamor, c. Old Saxon hamur, Old High German hamar hammer, Old Norse hamarr hammer, crag]
ham′mer•er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.