hammer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A tool with a heavy metal head and a handle, used for hitting nails.

   He used a hammer to nail the boards together.

2. 2
   verb

   To hit something hard, especially with a hammer.

   She hammered the nail into the wall.

3. 3
   noun

   A heavy metal ball on a wire that athletes throw in a sporting event.

   He set a national record in the hammer throw.

4. 4
   noun

   A small padded part inside a piano that strikes the strings to make sound.

   When you press a key, a hammer hits the string.

From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion. (declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.

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