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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

hammer.

A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈhæmə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhamə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈhæmɚ/US/ˈhaməɾ/Scotland
  1. A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.

    Bobby used a hammer and nails to fix the two planks together.
  2. The act of using a hammer to hit something.

    The nail is too loose—give it a hammer.
  3. The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.

  4. 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
  5. A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.

  6. The last stone in an end.

  7. A frisbee throw in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown forwards above the head.

  8. Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.

  9. One who, or that which, smites or shatters.

    St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.
  10. Ellipsis of hammer headline.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
  11. The accelerator pedal.

  12. A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.

  13. A handgun.

    broadly · slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hamaraz Proto-West Germanic *hamar Old English hamor Middle English hamer English hammer 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.

verb/ˈhæmə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈhamə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈhæmɚ/US/ˈhaməɾ/Scotland
  1. To strike repeatedly with a hammer, some other implement, the fist, etc.

    Tony hammered on the door to try to get him to open.
  2. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.

  3. To emphasize a point repeatedly.

    figuratively
  4. To hit particularly hard.

    usually
  5. To ride very fast.

    intransitive · slang
  6. To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer.

    intransitive
    I could hear the engine’s valves hammering once the timing rod was thrown.
  7. To defeat (a person, a team) resoundingly.

    figuratively · slang · transitive
    We hammered them 5-0!
  8. To make high demands on (a system or service).

    slang · transitive
  9. To declare (a person) a defaulter on the stock exchange.

    transitive
  10. To beat down the price of (a stock), or depress (a market).

    transitive
  11. To have hard sex with.

    colloquial · transitive
  12. To overcook (something).

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hamaraz Proto-West Germanic *hamar Old English hamor Middle English hamer English hammer 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.