hammer

Definitions

1. 1.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 (Zoöl.), 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.
2. 2.To beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to hammer iron.
3. 3.To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating. "Hammered money." Dryden.
4. 4.To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor; -- usually with out. Who was hammering out a penny dialogue. Jeffry.
5. 5.To be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if shaping something with a hammer. Whereon this month I have hammering. Shak.
6. 6.To strike repeated blows, literally or figuratively. Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. Shak.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "hammer" mean?
• What is another word for "hammer"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is hammer.

• What is to beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to hammer iron called?
• What is to form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating. "Hammered money." Dryden called?
• What is to form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor; -- usually with out. Who was hammering out a penny dialogue. Jeffry called?
• What is to be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if shaping something with a hammer. Whereon this month I have hammering. Shak called?
• What is to strike repeated blows, literally or figuratively. Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. Shak called?