I. ˈhamə(r) noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor; akin to Old High German hamar hammer, Old Norse hamarr hammer, crag, Greek akmōn anvil, Sanskrit áśma stone, Greek akmē edge — more at edge
1.
a. : a hand tool consisting of a solid head set crosswise on a handle and used for pounding (as in driving nails, breaking stone, beating metal surfaces) — see ball peen hammer , claw hammer , sledgehammer ; compare mallet
b. : a power tool that often substitutes a metal block or a drill for the hammerhead (as in driving posts, stamping or forging metal, or breaking up rock surfaces) — see air hammer , drop hammer , jackhammer ; compare pile driver
2. : one that strikes like a hammer
we need a concerted, vigorous voice; we need a hammer — Harvey Breit
wielding this problem as the hammer with which they must smash the last vestiges of Christian thought — L.J.Shehan
the hammer thrust of radio and television — Saturday Review
3. : something that resembles a hammer in form or action: as
a. : a lever with a striking head for ringing a bell or striking a gong (as in a clock or an electric bell)
b. obsolete : a door knocker
c.
(1) : a steel cover for the powder pan of a flintlock gun against which the flint strikes to ignite the powder ; also : an arm that holds the flint for striking : cock I 4
(2) : an arm that strikes the cap in a percussion lock to ignite the propelling charge
(3) : a part of the action of a modern gun that strikes the primer of the cartridge in firing or that strikes the firing pin to ignite the cartridge
d. : malleus 1a
e. : gavel ; specifically : a gavel with which an auctioneer indicates that an article is sold to the last bidder
f.
(1) : a padded mallet in a piano action for striking a string
(2) : a hand mallet for playing on a percussion instrument of fixed pitch (as a dulcimer or a xylophone)
4. : a metal sphere hurled in the hammer throw that usually weighs 16 pounds and together with its flexible wire handle measures not more than four feet in length
•
- under the hammer
II. verb
( hammered ; hammered ; hammering -m(ə)riŋ ; hammers )
Etymology: Middle English hameren, from hamer, n.
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to strike blows especially repeatedly with or as if with a hammer : pound
the impounded water hammers at the weak spots — Russell Lord
his pulses hammering in his head — Clive Arden
b. : water-hammer
2. : to become insistent or urgent : be in or keep up a state of agitation
these thoughts … hammered in her indignant consciousness — J.C.Powys
3. : to make repeated efforts as if shaping with a hammer:
a. : to reiterate an opinion or attitude repeatedly and emphatically : to place emphasis by constant repetition or discussion
continually hammers on the danger of intrigue — O.M.Green
— often used with away
letters and pamphlets all hammered away at the same point — Nathan Kelne
b. : to work persistently or tirelessly : toil , labor
Beethoven thought of an air, hammered at it, altered it again and again — C.W.H.Johnson
4. now dialect England : to speak haltingly : stammer
transitive verb
1.
a. : to strike with a hammer : beat, drive, or shape with repeated blows
hammer a nail
hammer a horseshoe
hammer out a tray
b. : to fasten with a hammer (as by nailing)
hammer down a lid
c. : to build with hammer and nails — usually used with together
hammer together a cold frame
2. : to strike as if with a hammer:
a. : to hit or drive with the force of a hammer
hammered three home runs in one game — Bob Broeg
the incoming train hammered the rear of the shorter train — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
b. : to strike with repeated blows : pound , thump
hammer a typewriter
hammering a rather hard pillow into a more comfortable shape — Dorothy Sayers
c. : to bring or keep under attack : belabor
the State Department is being badly hammered on this issue — New Republic
3. : to produce or bring about as if by means of repeated blows:
a. : to shape or put together by persevering effort
hammer our words to fit a song — Charles Fox
hammered together an alliance — Newsweek
— often used with out
hammer out a policy
hammer out an empire
sat at the piano for hours … trying to hammer out an original tune — Noel Coward
b. : to force or drive into the consciousness by reiteration
hammering in day after day the same few and relatively simple beliefs — John Dewey
— often used with home
hammers home the theme of freedom to think — Brooks Atkinson
c. : to level off : make smooth : adjust — usually used with out
differences are hammered out in discussion — Walter Moberly
d.
(1) : to force down the price of (a stock) by selling short
told the broker whom I had been using to hammer down the stock to continue his operations — B.M.Baruch
(2) : to declare (a member of the London stock exchange) to be a defaulter
broke away to the stock exchange and at twenty-four was insolvent and hammered — Times Literary Supplement