noun
hammer
HA-muh
noun
1
A hand tool with a heavy head, used for driving nails, breaking things apart, or shaping metal.
"He grabbed a hammer and knocked the loose shelf back into place."
"The blacksmith shaped the glowing metal with quick blows of his hammer."
verb
1
To strike something repeatedly, whether with an actual hammer, a fist, or figuratively with words.
"She hammered the point home in every meeting until the team finally listened."
"Rain hammered against the windows all night."
2
To defeat someone decisively, or to put heavy strain on a system.
"The champions hammered their opponents 6-0."
"The new feature hammered the servers the moment it went live."
How to Use Hammer
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA striking tool, or to strike/defeat something repeatedly and hard.
Common pairings
hammer a nail
hammer home a point
hammer the opposition
Word Forms
hammered past tense, Hammers plural, hammers singular
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Etymology
From Old English hamor, from a Proto-Germanic word for a stone-headed tool, related to German Hammer and Dutch hamer.