Hammer

/ˈhæm.ɚ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
  • Grammar: hammer is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: hammering, mallet, malleus, pound.
  • Useful contrasts: crowbar, dink, draw.
  • Usage evidence: To the man who only has a hammer in the toolkit, every problem looks like a nail.

How to use "hammer"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hammer" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hammer" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hammer" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hammer" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "hammer" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "hammering" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "hammer", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 2
    someone connected with West Ham Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
  3. 3
    the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows) wordnet
  4. 4
    The act of using a hammer to hit something.

    "The nail is too loose—give it a hammer."

  5. 5
    a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking wordnet
Show 17 more definitions
  1. 6
    The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
  2. 7
    a power tool for drilling rocks wordnet
  3. 8
    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"

  4. 9
    a striker that is covered in felt and that causes the piano strings to vibrate wordnet
  5. 10
    A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.
  6. 11
    the part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when the trigger is pulled wordnet
  7. 12
    The last stone in an end.
  8. 13
    a heavy metal sphere attached to a flexible wire; used in the hammer throw wordnet
  9. 14
    A frisbee throw in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown forwards above the head.
  10. 15
    a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc. wordnet
  11. 16
    Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
  12. 17
    the ossicle attached to the eardrum wordnet
  13. 18
    One who, or that which, smites or shatters.

    "St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies."

  14. 19
    Ellipsis of hammer headline. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

    "Hammers are, in essence, reverse kickers. Instead of being set in smaller type like kickers, hammers are set in larger type than headlines."

  15. 20
    The accelerator pedal.

    "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.""

  16. 21
    A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.

    "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."

  17. 22
    A handgun. broadly, slang

    "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."

Verb
  1. 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. 2
    beat with or as if with a hammer wordnet
  3. 3
    To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.

    "hammered money"

  4. 4
    create by hammering wordnet
  5. 5
    To emphasize a point repeatedly. figuratively
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    To hit particularly hard. usually

    "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."

  2. 7
    To ride very fast. intransitive, slang

    "Fifteen minutes later, leaving a vapour trail of kitchen smells, I hammered into Obterre."

  3. 8
    To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer. intransitive

    "I could hear the engine’s valves hammering once the timing rod was thrown."

  4. 9
    To defeat (a person, a team) resoundingly. figuratively, slang, transitive

    "We hammered them 5-0!"

  5. 10
    To make high demands on (a system or service). slang, transitive

    "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, […]"

  6. 11
    To declare (a person) a defaulter on the stock exchange. transitive
  7. 12
    To beat down the price of (a stock), or depress (a market). transitive
  8. 13
    To have hard sex with. colloquial, transitive

    "A short time later I’ve got Lissie in bed. I’m really going after it, really hammering her."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
hammeringmalletmalleuspoundair hammerannihilates

Example

"To the man who only has a hammer in the toolkit, every problem looks like a nail."

Common questions

What does "hammer" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "hammer"?

Common synonyms include: hammering, mallet, malleus, pound, air hammer, annihilates.

How do you use "hammer" in a sentence?

To the man who only has a hammer in the toolkit, every problem looks like a nail.

How do you pronounce "hammer"?

Pronounced /ˈhæm.ɚ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

Shortened West Ham + -er, with a pun on hammer.

More for "hammer"

Synonyms

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