Sledgehammer

//ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.

    "These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long."

  2. 2
    a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To strike (something) with a sledgehammer. transitive

    "Some lawmakers were so incensed that they even invited the news media to watch the sledgehammering of the Japanese company's products on the Capitol's steps."

  2. 2
    beat with a sledgehammer wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Completely lacking grace and dexterity.

    "Promising new treatments avoid the sledgehammer approach of traditional chemotherapy in two key ways.""

Synonyms

All synonyms
maulmalletbangbastebatterbeat

Example

More examples

"Something really should be done about the problem, but this is cracking a nut with a sledgehammer."

Etymology

Compound of sledge + hammer.

Related phrases

use a sledgehammer to crack a nut

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.