Wiktionary

hammer

See also:Hammer,hämmer,andHämmer

English

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia
Hammer(sense 1)
Hammer(sense 12) of the firing pin
Hammer(sense 4) of a piano

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishhamer,fromOld Englishhamor,fromProto-West Germanic*hamar,fromProto-Germanic*hamaraz(“tool with a stone head”)(compareWest Frisianhammer,Low GermanHamer,Dutchhamer,GermanHammer,Danishhammer,Swedishhammare). This is traditionally ascribed toProto-Indo-European*h₂eḱmoros,from*h₂éḱmō(“stone”),but see*hamarazfor further discussion.

(declare a defaulter on the stock exchange):Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hammer(pluralhammers)

  2. Atoolwith a heavyheadand ahandleused forpounding.
    Bobby used ahammerand nails to fix the two planks together
  3. The act of using a hammer to hit something.
    The nail is too loose—give it ahammer.
  4. (anatomy)Themalleus,a small bone of themiddle ear.
  6. (music)In apianoordulcimer,a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string.
    The sound the piano makes comes from thehammersstriking the strings
  7. (sports)A device made of aheavysteelballattached to a length ofwire,and used forthrowing.
  8. (curling)The laststonein anend.
  9. (frisbee)A frisbee throwing style in which the disc is held upside-down with aforehandgrip and thrown above the head.
  10. Part of aclockthat strikes upon abellto indicate thehour.
  11. One who, or that which,smitesorshatters.
    St. Augustine was thehammerof heresies.
    • 1849,John Henry Newman,Discourses to Mixed Congregations:
      He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been themassive ironhammersof the whole earth.
  12. (journalism)Ellipsisofhammer headline.
    • 1981,Harry W. Stonecipher, Edward C. Nicholls, Douglas A. Anderson,Electronic Age News Editing,page104:
      Hammersare, in essence, reversekickers.Instead of being set in smaller type like kickers,hammersare set in larger type than headlines.
  13. (motor racing)Theacceleratorpedal.
    • 1975,“Convoy”,in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics),Black Bear Road,performed byC. W. McCall:
      We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
      'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town.
      I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
      And I'm about to put thehammerdown. "
  15. (firearms)A moving part of afirearmthat strikes thefiring pinto discharge a gun.
    • 2016,Doseone(lyrics and music), “Enter the Gungeon”, inEnter the GungeonOST:
      Nonstophammercock, violent mannered shots land a lot
    • 2023March 27, Helen Lewis, “How Did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor?”, inThe Atlantic‎[1]:
      In the course of a single month this year, the following news reports emanated from Florida: A gun enthusiast in Tampa built a 55-foot backyard pool shaped like a revolver, with a hot tub in thehammer.
  16. (African-American Vernacular,slang,loosely)Ahandgun.

Derived terms

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Terms derived fromhammer(noun)

Translations

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See also

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Verb

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hammer(third-person singular simple presenthammers,present participlehammering,simple past and past participlehammered)

  1. Tostrikerepeatedlywith ahammer,some otherimplement,thefist,etc.
    Tonyhammeredon the door to try to get him to open.
    • 1899February,Joseph Conrad,“The Heart of Darkness”,inBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine,volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company,[…],→OCLC,part I,page198:
      Fresleven - that was the fellow’s name, a Dane - thought himself wronged somehow in the bargain, so he went ashore and started tohammerthe chief of the village with a stick.
    • 2023October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, inSCP Foundation‎[2],archived fromthe originalon23 May 2024:
      "He's been waiting to jump my brain-bones since I left R&E. I could feel himhammeringon the door. "She trotted to the nearest wall and knocked on it for emphasis." But whatever it is that makes us remember the good old days, it also makes us impossible to possess now. That's why Willie and I both woke up, and why Noè never got taken out by Mukami. So all I had to do was open my mind up to the guy, invite him in, then... gas the foyer, as it were. "
  2. Toformorforgewith ahammer;toshapebybeating.
    • 1697,Virgil,“(please specify the book number)”,inJohn Dryden,transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…],London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC:
      hammeredmoney
  3. (figuratively)Toemphasizeapointrepeatedly.
  4. (sports,etc.)Tohitparticularlyhard.
    • 2010December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham”, inBBC‎[3]:
      This time the defender was teed up by Andrew Johnson's short free-kick on the edge of the box and Bairdhammeredhis low drive beyond Begovic's outstretched left arm and into the bottom corner, doubling his goal tally for the season and stunning the home crowd.
    • 2023January 25, Howard Johnston, “Peter Kelly:August 2 1944-December 28 2022”,inRAIL,number975,page47:
      "My memory of him in the office at Peterborough was the ferocious nature of his typing, on a manual machine of course. This was long before the days of desktop publishing, and you could hear him down the corridor absolutelyhammeringthe keyboard. "
  5. (cycling,intransitive,slang)Torideveryfast.
    • 2011,Tim Moore,French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France,page58:
      Fifteen minutes later, leaving a vapour trail of kitchen smells, Ihammeredinto Obterre.
    • 2019December 18, Richard Clinnick, “Traction transition: HST to Azuma”, inRail,page32:
      Running at line-speed, well over 100mph, ithammersthroughDoncasteron its way south toLondon.
  6. (intransitive)Tostrikeinternally,as ifhitby ahammer.
    I could hear the engine’s valveshammeringonce the timing rod was thrown.
  7. (transitive,slang,figuratively,sports)Todefeat(a person, a team)resoundingly.
    Wehammeredthem 5-0!
  8. (transitive,slang,computing)To makehighdemandson (asystemorservice).
    • 1995,Optimizing Windows NT,volume 4, page226:
      So we'll behammeringthe server in an unrealistic manner, but we'll see how the additional clients affect overall performance. We'll add two, three, four, and then five clients,[…]
  9. (transitive,finance)Todeclare(a person) adefaulteron thestock exchange.
  10. (transitive,finance)Tobeat downthepriceof (astock), ordepress(amarket).
  11. (sex,transitive,colloquial)Tohavehardsexwith.
    Synonym:pound
    DaniellehammeredMary til she came.
    • 2012,John Locke,Wish List(Donovan Creed), John Locke Books,→ISBN,page19:
      A short time later I’ve got Lissie in bed. I’m really going after it, reallyhammeringher.

Derived terms

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terms derived fromhammer (verb)

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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Danish

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DanishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipediada

Etymology

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FromOld Norsehamarr,fromProto-Germanic*hamaraz,fromProto-Indo-European*h₂eḱmoros,from*h₂éḱmō(“stone”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hammerc(singular definitehammeren,plural indefinitehammereorhamre)

  1. hammer

Inflection

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Declension ofhammer
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hammer hammeren hammere
hamre 		hammerne
hamrene
genitive hammers hammerens hammeres
hamres 		hammernes
hamrenes

German

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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hammer

  1. (colloquial,regional)Contraction ofhabenwir.
    Dahammerjetz' keine Zeit für.
    We don't have time for that now.

Usage notes

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This contraction is common throughout central Germany, southern Germany, and Austria. It is only occasionally heard in northern Germany.

See also

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Middle English

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Noun

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hammer

  1. Alternative form ofhamer

Norwegian Bokmål

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NorwegianWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipediano

Etymology 1

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FromOld Norsehamarr,fromProto-Germanic*hamaraz,fromProto-Indo-European*h₂eḱmoros,from*h₂éḱmō(“stone”).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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hammerm(definite singularhammeren,indefinite pluralhammereorhamrer,definite pluralhammerneorhamrene)

  1. ahammer(tool)
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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hammerm

  1. indefinitepluralofham

References

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Portuguese

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowingfromEnglishhammer.

Noun

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hammerm(pluralhammers)

  1. (ultimate frisbee)hammer

West Frisian

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Etymology

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FromOld Frisianhamar,fromProto-West Germanic*hamar,fromProto-Germanic*hamaraz.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hammerc(pluralhammers,diminutivehammerke)

  1. hammer(tool, consisting of a piece of wood or iron, which is used for hitting or knocking)
    Ik sloech mei dehammerop 'e finger
    I hit the finger with thehammer

References

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  • “hammer”,inWurdboek fan de Fryske taal(in Dutch),2011
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