a wedgelike, spherical, or other striking end of a hammer head opposite the face.
verb (used with object)
2.
to enlarge, straighten, or smooth with a peen.
3.
to strengthen (a metal surface) by light hammering or by bombardment with steel balls or shot.
Origin
1505-15; earlier pen < Scandinavian; compare Swedish,Norwegianpen (noun) in same sense (perhaps < GermanPinne peen). See pin
Examples from the web for peen
He was shaping it with millions of identical taps from a ball-peen hammer.
His tools, notably a three-pound ball-peen hammer, clanked in a greasy leather bag suspended from the handlebars.
They never messed with his peen and never messed with his fingernails.
Sounding is done by striking the concrete surface with a steel rod or ball-peen hammer, or by dragging a chain along the surface.
British Dictionary definitions for peen
peen
/piːn/
noun
1.
the end of a hammer head opposite the striking face, often rounded or wedge-shaped
verb
2.
(transitive) to strike with the peen of a hammer or with a stream of metal shot in order to bend or shape (a sheet of metal)
Word Origin
C17: variant of pane, perhaps from French panne, ultimately from Latin pinna point
Word Origin and History for peen
n.
1680s, "sharp or thin end of a hammer head, opposite the face," probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian dialectal penn "peen," Old Swedish pæna "beat iron thin with a hammer"). Earlier as a verb, "to beat thin with a hammer" (1510s).