Etymology From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion. (declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.
A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
Bobby used a hammer and nails to fix the two planks together.
Men shove statues off pedestals, and use hammers and drills to destroy what’s left.2015 February 26, Ben Wedeman, Dana Ford, “Video shows ISIS militants destroying antiquities in Iraq”, in CNN, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2023:
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The act of using a hammer to hit something.
The nail is too loose—give it a hammer.
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Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music In a piano or dulcimer, a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string.
The sound the piano makes comes from the hammers striking the strings
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.
A frisbee throw in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown forwards above the head.
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Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
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One who, or that which, smites or shatters.
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.1849, John Henry Newman, Discourses to Mixed Congregations:
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Journalism, MediaAbbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of hammer headline.
Hammers are, in essence, reverse kickers. Instead of being set in smaller type like kickers, hammers are set in larger type than headlines.1981, Harry W. Stonecipher, Edward C. Nicholls, Douglas A. Anderson, Electronic Age News Editing, page 104:
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 the hammer down."1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall:
But the Englishman was close to him—so close that his hand reached the leveled barrel a fraction of a second before the hammer fell upon the cartridge, and the bullet that was intended for Tarzan’s heart whirred harmlessly above his head.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 219:
Nonstop hammer cock, violent mannered shots land a lot2016, Doseone, “Enter the Gungeon”, in Enter the Gungeon OST:
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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 the hammer.2023 March 27, Helen Lewis, “How Did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor?”, in The Atlantic:
Another one of my peoples came to me with a plan. "Yo, man, I need to get some money. I need to borrow that hammer." So I gave him my nickel-plated .357 with a wooden handle, and off he went to stand by the weed spot.2018, U-God [Lamont Hawkins], Raw: My Journey Into The Wu-Tang, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 119:
Etymology From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion. (declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.
To strike repeatedly with a hammer, some other implement, the fist, etc.
Tony hammered on the door to try to get him to open.
Fresleven - that was the fellow’s name, a Dane - thought himself wronged somehow in the bargain, so he went ashore and started to hammer the chief of the village with a stick.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198:
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"He's been waiting to jump my brain-bones since I left R&E. I could feel him hammering on 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."2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
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To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.
hammered money1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
Hobbies, Lifestyle, SportsUsually To hit particularly hard.
This time the defender was teed up by Andrew Johnson's short free-kick on the edge of the box and Baird hammered his 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.2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham”, in BBC:
"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 absolutely hammering the keyboard."2023 January 25, Howard Johnston, “Peter Kelly: August 2 1944-December 28 2022”, in RAIL, number 975, page 47:
Fifteen minutes later, leaving a vapour trail of kitchen smells, I hammered into Obterre.2011, Tim Moore, French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France, page 58:
Running at line-speed, well over 100mph, it hammers through Doncaster on its way south to London.2019 December 18, Richard Clinnick, “Traction transition: HST to Azuma”, in Rail, page 32:
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To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer.
I could hear the engine’s valves hammering once the timing rod was thrown.
So we'll be hammering the 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, […]1995, Optimizing Windows NT, volume 4, page 226:
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Business, Finance To declare (a person) a defaulter on the stock exchange.
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Business, Finance To beat down the price of (a stock), or depress (a market).
A short time later I’ve got Lissie in bed. I’m really going after it, really hammering her.2012, John Locke, Wish List (Donovan Creed), John Locke Books, →ISBN, page 19: