Dictionary entries for 'hammer'

Synonyms

ham·mer (hăḿər)

[Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor.]

noun

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.
A tool or device similar in function or action to this striking tool, as:
1. The part of a gunlock that hits the primer or firing pin or explodes the percussion cap and causes the gun to fire.
2. Music One of the padded wooden pieces of a piano that strikes the strings.
3. A part of an apparatus that strikes a gong or bell, as in a clock.
Anatomy See malleus
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.
A small mallet used by auctioneers.

To hit, especially repeatedly, with or as if with a hammer; pound. See synonyms at beat
To beat into a shape with or as if with a hammer: hammered out the dents in the fender; hammered out a contract acceptable to both sides.
To put together, fasten, or seal, particularly with nails, by hammering.
To force upon by constant repetition: hammered the information into the students' heads.
1. To defeat soundly.
2. To inflict a heavy loss or damage on.

To deal repeated blows with or as if with a hammer; pummel: “Wind hammered at us violently in gusts” (Thor Heyerdahl)
To undergo beating in the manner of a hammer: My pulse hammered.
Informal To keep at something continuously: hammered away at the problem.

mal·le·us (măĺē-əs)

[Latin, hammer.]

The hammer-shaped bone that is the outermost of the three small bones in the mammalian middle ear. Also called hammer