hammer

The word “hammer” means a hand tool with a heavy head, used for driving nails, breaking things apart, or shaping metal. In plain terms, a striking tool, or to strike/defeat something repeatedly and hard.

“Hammer” is pronounced HA-muh (/ˈhæmɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “hammer” used in a sentence: “He grabbed a hammer and knocked the loose shelf back into place.”

Depending on how it is used, “hammer” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “hammer” comes from Old English. From Old English hamor, from a Proto-Germanic word for a stone-headed tool, related to German Hammer and Dutch hamer.

“Hammer” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Hammer” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a hand tool with a heavy head, used for driving nails, breaking things apart, or shaping metal.

As a noun, "hammer" is the hand tool with a heavy head used to drive nails or shape metal. As a verb, "hammer" means to strike something repeatedly, whether with the tool, a fist, or figuratively with words.

Everyday expressions include "hammer out" a deal, meaning to work out details through hard effort, and "go at it hammer and tongs," meaning to argue or fight energetically. Both draw on the idea of forceful, repeated striking.

Yes. The verb "hammer" often means to hit repeatedly with a fist, or figuratively to attack or criticise strongly, as in "critics hammered the film." No actual tool is needed.