hammer

[ham-er] /ˈhæm ər/
noun
1.
a tool consisting of a solid head, usually of metal, set crosswise on a handle, used for beating metals, driving nails, etc.
2.
any of various instruments or devices resembling this in form, action, or use, as a gavel, a mallet for playing the xylophone, or a lever that strikes the bell in a doorbell.
3.
Firearms. the part of a lock that by its fall or action causes the discharge, as by exploding the percussion cap or striking the primer or firing pin; the cock.
4.
one of the padded levers by which the strings of a piano are struck.
5.
Track. a metal ball, usually weighing 16 pounds (7.3 kg), attached to a steel wire at the end of which is a grip, for throwing for distance in the hammer throw.
6.
Anatomy. the malleus.
verb (used with object)
7.
to beat or drive (a nail, peg, etc.) with a hammer.
8.
to fasten by using hammer and nails; nail (often followed by down, up, etc.):
We spent the day hammering up announcements on fences and trees.
9.
to assemble or build with a hammer and nails (often followed by together):
He hammered together a small crate.
10.
to shape or ornament (metal or a metal object) by controlled and repeated blows of a hammer; beat out:
to hammer brass; to hammer a brass bowl.
11.
to form, construct, or make with or as if with a hammer; build by repeated, vigorous, or strenuous effort (often followed by out or together):
to hammer out an agreement; to hammer together a plot.
12.
to produce with or by force (often followed by out):
to hammer out a tune on the piano; to hammer a home run.
13.
to pound or hit forcefully:
to hammer someone in the jaw.
14.
to settle (a strong disagreement, argument, etc.); bring to an end, as by strenuous or repeated effort (usually followed by out):
They hammered out their differences over a glass of beer.
15.
to present (points in an argument, an idea, etc.) forcefully or compellingly; state strongly, aggressively, and effectively (often followed by home).
16.
to impress (something) as if by hammer blows:
You'll have to hammer the rules into his head.
17.
British.
  1. (in the London stock exchange) to dismiss (a person) from membership because of default.
  2. to depress the price of (a stock).
verb (used without object)
18.
to strike blows with or as if with a hammer.
19.
to make persistent or laborious attempts to finish or perfect something (sometimes followed by away):
He hammered away at his speech for days.
20.
to reiterate; emphasize by repetition (often followed by away):
The teacher hammered away at the multiplication tables.
Idioms
21.
under the hammer, for sale at public auction:
The old estate and all its furnishings went under the hammer.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English hamer, Old English hamor; cognate with German Hammer hammer, Old Norse hamarr hammer, crag; orig. made of stone; probably akin to Russian kámen' stone
Related forms
hammerable, adjective
hammerer, noun
hammerlike, adjective
outhammer, verb (used with object)
rehammer, verb (used with object)
underhammer, noun
Synonyms
12, 13. knock, bang. 13. strike. 14. resolve, solve, thrash, work.
British Dictionary definitions for hammer out

hammer out

verb (transitive, adverb)
1.
to shape or remove with or as if with a hammer
2.
to form or produce (an agreement, plan, etc) after much discussion or dispute

hammer

/ˈhæmə/
noun
1.
a hand tool consisting of a heavy usually steel head held transversely on the end of a handle, used for driving in nails, beating metal, etc
2.
any tool or device with a similar function, such as the moving part of a door knocker, the striking head on a bell, etc
3.
a power-driven striking tool, esp one used in forging. A pneumatic hammer delivers a repeated blow from a pneumatic ram, a drop hammer uses the energy of a falling weight
4.
a part of a gunlock that rotates about a fulcrum to strike the primer or percussion cap, either directly or via a firing pin
5.
(athletics)
  1. a heavy metal ball attached to a flexible wire: thrown in competitions
  2. the event or sport of throwing the hammer
6.
an auctioneer's gavel
7.
a device on a piano that is made to strike a string or group of strings causing them to vibrate
8.
(anatomy) the nontechnical name for malleus
9.
(curling) the last stone thrown in an end
10.
go under the hammer, come under the hammer, to be offered for sale by an auctioneer
11.
hammer and tongs, with great effort or energy: fighting hammer and tongs
12.
(Austral & NZ, slang) on someone's hammer
  1. persistently demanding and critical of someone
  2. in hot pursuit of someone
verb
13.
to strike or beat (a nail, wood, etc) with or as if with a hammer
14.
(transitive) to shape or fashion with or as if with a hammer
15.
(transitive; foll by in or into) to impress or force (facts, ideas, etc) into (someone) through constant repetition
16.
(intransitive) to feel or sound like hammering: his pulse was hammering
17.
(intransitive) often foll by away. to work at constantly
18.
(transitive) (Brit)
  1. to question in a relentless manner
  2. to criticize severely
19.
(informal) to inflict a defeat on
20.
(transitive) (slang) to beat, punish, or chastise
21.
(transitive) (stock exchange)
  1. to announce the default of (a member)
  2. to cause prices of (securities, the market, etc) to fall by bearish selling
See also hammer out
Derived Forms
hammerer, noun
hammer-like, adjective
Word Origin
Old English hamor; related to Old Norse hamarr crag, Old High German hamar hammer, Old Slavonic kamy stone
Word Origin and History for hammer out

hammer

n.

Old English hamor "hammer," from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (cf. Old Saxon hamur, Middle Dutch, Dutch hamer, Old High German hamar, German Hammer. The Old Norse cognate hamarr meant "stone, crag" (it's common in English place names), and suggests an original sense of "tool with a stone head," from PIE *akmen "stone, sharp stone used as a tool" (cf. Old Church Slavonic kamy, Russian kameni "stone"), from root *ak- "sharp" (see acme). Hammer and sickle as an emblem of Soviet communism attested from 1921, symbolizing industrial and agricultural labor.

v.

late 14c., from hammer (n.). Meaning "to work (something) out laboriously" recorded from 1580s. Meaning "to defeat heavily" is from 1948. Related: Hammered; hammering. Hammered as a slang synonym for "drunk" attested by 1986.

hammer out in Medicine

hammer ham·mer (hām'ər)
n.
See malleus.

Slang definitions & phrases for hammer out

hammer

noun
  1. A sexually desirable woman; fox •Regarded by some women as offensive (1960s+ Black)
  2. The accelerator of a truck (1960+ Truckers)
  3. The penis: How's your hammer hangin', Tiger? (1960s+)
verb
  1. To denigrate severely; dump on: You can be playing outside the pearly gates and you're still going to get hammered (1900+)
  2. To beat down the price of a stock: Beverly's stock was being hammered by the company's persistent losses (1846+ Stock market)

hammer out in the Bible

(1.) Heb. pattish, used by gold-beaters (Isa. 41:7) and by quarry-men (Jer. 23:29). Metaphorically of Babylon (Jer. 50:23) or Nebuchadnezzar. (2.) Heb. makabah, a stone-cutter's mallet (1 Kings 6:7), or of any workman (Judg. 4:21; Isa. 44:12). (3.) Heb. halmuth, a poetical word for a workman's hammer, found only in Judg. 5:26, where it denotes the mallet with which the pins of the tent of the nomad are driven into the ground. (4.) Heb. mappets, rendered "battle-axe" in Jer. 51:20. This was properly a "mace," which is thus described by Rawlinson: "The Assyrian mace was a short, thin weapon, and must either have been made of a very tough wood or (and this is more probable) of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or string at the lower end by which it could be grasped with greater firmness."

Idioms and Phrases with hammer out

hammer out

Work out with considerable effort, as in It took weeks of negotiations to hammer out an acceptable compromise. This usage likens intellectual effort to shaping metal with the blows of a hammer. [ Mid-1700s ]

hammer

also see:
under the hammer