noun
anvil
AN-vihl
noun
1
A heavy block of iron with a flat top, used by blacksmiths as a surface for hammering and shaping hot metal.
"The blacksmith rested the glowing horseshoe on the anvil before striking it."
2
The small anvil-shaped bone in the middle ear (also called the incus).
"Sound vibrations pass from the hammer to the anvil and then to the stirrup in the ear."
3
A flat-topped, spreading cloud formation that appears at the top of a thunderstorm.
"Pilots steered well clear of the anvil cloud building over the mountains."
verb
1
To shape or hammer something as if working it on a blacksmith's anvil.
"The sculptor anviled the sheet of copper into a curved bowl."
How to Use Anvil
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe heavy metal block a blacksmith hammers on — also used for the matching-shaped ear bone and storm cloud.
Common pairings
strike the anvil
anvil cloud
blacksmith's anvil
Word Forms
anvilled past tense, anviled past tense, anvils plural, anvils singular
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The blacksmith rested the glowing horseshoe on the _____ before striking it.
Etymology
From Old English anfilte, built from "on" + a Germanic root meaning "beaten" — literally something metal is beaten on.