hammer
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The act of pounding.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hamerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhæmɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows)
“The sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard.”
A hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking
The act of using a hammer to hit something.
anatomy
The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
One who, or that which, smites or shatters.
verb
To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.
To strike repeatedly with a hammer, some other implement, the fist, etc.
intransitive
To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer.
figuratively
To emphasize a point repeatedly.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows)
Used this way, hammer is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “hammer of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- malleus , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Natural pattern: hammer of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hammer
- “The sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Shaped or worked with a hammer and often showing hammer marks.
The act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An athletic competition in which a heavy metal ball that is attached to a flexible wire is hurled as far as possible.
Discuss vehemently in order to reach a solution or an agreement.
Enlargement of the nose with dilation of follicles and redness and prominent vascularity of the skin.
Teach by drills and repetition.
The emblem on the flag of the Soviet Union.
A hammer driven by electric motor.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Medium-sized live-bearing shark with eyes at either end of a flattened hammer-shaped head.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.