hammer

/ˈhæmər/

/ˈhæmə/

Other forms: hammered; hammering; hammers

A hammer is a tool you can use to drive nails into wood or other materials. You'll find a hammer in just about any toolbox, since it's useful for hanging pictures, making repairs, or breaking things apart.

When you hit a nail again and again with a hammer, you hammer it. Other kinds of hammers include the part of a gun that swings forcefully when the trigger is pulled; the padded striker in a piano that hits a string when a note is played; and a Marvel Comics supervillain whose partner in crime is named Anvil. There's also the hammerhead shark, named for the odd, hammer-like shape of its head.

Definitions of hammer

1. noun

   a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking
   types:

   ball-peen hammer

   a hammer with one round and one flat end; used in working metal

   bricklayer's hammer

   a hammer used in laying bricks

   carpenter's hammer, claw hammer, clawhammer

   a hammer with a cleft at one end for pulling nails

   beetle, mallet

   a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing

   maul, sledge, sledgehammer

   a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges

   percussor, plessor, plexor

   (medicine) a small hammer with a rubber head used in percussive examinations of the chest and in testing reflexes

   tack hammer

   a light hammer that is used to drive tacks

   carpenter's mallet

   a short-handled mallet with a wooden head used to strike a chisel or wedge

   gavel

   a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge

   type of:

   hand tool

   a tool used with workers' hands
2. noun

   a power tool for drilling rocks
   synonyms: power hammer

   types:

   air hammer, jackhammer, pneumatic hammer

   a hammer driven by compressed air

   electric hammer

   a hammer driven by electric motor

   triphammer

   a massive power hammer; raised by a cam until released to fall under gravity

   type of:

   power tool

   a tool driven by a motor
3. noun

   the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows)
   “the sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard”

   synonyms: hammering, pound, pounding

   type of:

   blow, buffet

   a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon
4. verb

   beat with or as if with a hammer
   “hammer the metal flat”

   synonyms:

   forge

   create by hammering

   types:

   sledge, sledgehammer

   beat with a sledgehammer

   type of:

   beat

   hit repeatedly
5. verb

   create by hammering
   “hammer the silver into a bowl”

   synonyms: forge

   types:

   foliate

   hammer into thin flat foils

   dropforge

   forge with a dropforge

   type of:

   beat

   shape by beating
6. noun

   a striker that is covered in felt and that causes the piano strings to vibrate
   type of:

   striker

   the part of a mechanical device that strikes something
7. noun

   a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc.
   synonyms: mallet

   type of:

   drumstick

   a stick used for playing a drum
8. noun

   the ossicle attached to the eardrum
   synonyms: malleus

   type of:

   auditory ossicle

   ossicles of the middle ear that transmit acoustic vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear
9. noun

   a heavy metal sphere attached to a flexible wire; used in the hammer throw
   type of:

   sports equipment

   equipment needed to participate in a particular sport
10. noun

    the part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when the trigger is pulled
    synonyms: cock

    type of:

    striker

    the part of a mechanical device that strikes something