American Heritage Dictionary Entry: hammer HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com ham·mer (hămər) Share: Tweet n. 1. A hand tool consisting of a handle with a head of metal or other heavy rigid material that is attached at a right angle, used for striking or pounding. 2. A tool or device similar in function or action to this striking tool, as: a. The part of a gunlock that hits the primer or firing pin or explodes the percussion cap and causes the gun to fire. b. Music One of the padded wooden pieces of a piano that strikes the strings. c. A part of an apparatus that strikes a gong or bell, as in a clock. 3. Anatomy See malleus. 4. Sports A metal ball weighing 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms) and having a long wire or wooden handle by which it is thrown for distance in track-and-field competition. 5. A small mallet used by auctioneers. v. ham·mered, ham·mer·ing, ham·mers v.tr. 1. a. To hit, especially repeatedly, with a hammer; pound. See Synonyms at beat. b. To strike forcefully and repeatedly: hooves hammering the ground. c. To assault with military force: hammered the position with artillery shells. 2. a. To beat into a shape with a hammer or similar tool: hammered the metal into a goblet. b. To accomplish or produce with difficulty or effort. Often used with out: hammer out an agreement. 3. To put together, fasten, or seal, particularly with nails, by hammering. 4. To force upon (someone) by constant repetition: hammered the information into the students' heads. 5. a. To cause harm, loss, or difficulty to (someone), especially repeatedly: investors hammered in the bear market. b. To defeat soundly: got hammered in the playoffs. c. To attack verbally: a politician hammered in the press v.intr. 1. To deal repeated blows with or as if with a hammer; pummel: "Wind hammered at us violently in gusts" (Thor Heyerdahl). 2. To undergo beating in the manner of a hammer: My pulse hammered. 3. Informal To keep at something continuously. Often used with away: hammered away at the problem.Idiom: under the hammer For sale at an auction. [Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor; see ak- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] hammer·er n. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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