Definitions for: Hammer


[n] the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows); "the sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard"; "the pounding of feet on the hallway"
[n] a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking
[n] a power tool for drilling rocks
[n] a striker that is covered in felt and that causes the piano strings to vibrate
[n] the part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when the trigger is pulled
[n] a heavy metal sphere attached to a flexible wire; used in the hammer throw
[n] the ossicle attached to the eardrum
[n] an athletic competition in which a heavy metal ball that is attached to a flexible wire is hurled as far as possible
[v] beat with or as if with a hammer
[v] of metals



Webster (1913) Definition: Ham"mer, n. [OE. hamer, AS. hamer, hamor; akin to D.
hamer, G. & Dan. hammer, Sw. hammare, Icel. hamarr, hammer,
crag, and perh. to Gr. ? anvil, Skr. a?man stone.]
1. An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the
like, consisting of a head, usually of steel or iron,
fixed crosswise to a handle.

With busy hammers closing rivets up. --Shak.

2. Something which in firm or action resembles the common
hammer; as:
(a) That part of a clock which strikes upon the bell to
indicate the hour.
(b) The padded mallet of a piano, which strikes the wires,
to produce the tones.
(c) (Anat.) The malleus. See under Ear. (Gun.) That part
of a gunlock which strikes the percussion cap, or
firing pin; the cock; formerly, however, a piece of
steel covering the pan of a flintlock musket and
struck by the flint of the cock to ignite the priming.
(e) Also, a person of thing that smites or shatters; as,
St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.

He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had
been the ``massive iron hammers'' of the whole
earth. --J. H.
Newman.

Atmospheric hammer, a dead-stroke hammer in which the
spring is formed by confined air.

Drop hammer, Face hammer, etc. See under Drop, Face,
etc.

Hammer fish. See Hammerhead.

Hammer hardening, the process of hardening metal by
hammering it when cold.

Hammer shell (Zo["o]l.), any species of Malleus, a genus
of marine bivalve shells, allied to the pearl oysters,
having the wings narrow and elongated, so as to give them
a hammer-shaped outline; -- called also hammer oyster.


To bring to the hammer, to put up at auction.


Ham"mer, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hammered; p. pr. & vb.
n. Hammering.]
1. To beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to
hammer iron.

2. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.
``Hammered money.'' --Dryden.

3. To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor;
-- usually with out.

Who was hammering out a penny dialogue. --Jeffry.


Ham"mer, v. i.
1. To be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if shaping
something with a hammer.

Whereon this month I have hammering. --Shak.

2. To strike repeated blows, literally or figuratively.

Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. --Shak.


Ham"mer, n. (Athletics)
A spherical weight attached to a flexible handle and hurled
from a mark or ring. The weight of head and handle is usually
not less than 16 pounds.

Synonyms: cock, forge, hammer throw, hammering, malleus, pound, pounding, power hammer

See Also: air hammer, auditory ossicle, ball-peen hammer, beat, beat, beetle, blow, bricklayer's hammer, carpenter's hammer, claw hammer, clawhammer, dropforge, electric hammer, field event, firing mechanism, foliate, gunlock, hammerhead, hand tool, head, jackhammer, mallet, maul, middle ear, percussor, piano action, plessor, plexor, pneumatic hammer, power tool, sledge, sledge, sledgehammer, sledgehammer, sporting goods, sports equipment, striker, tack hammer, triphammer, tympanic cavity, tympanum

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