hammern.1
/ˈhamə/, U.S. /ˈhæmər/ 1.
a. An instrument having a hard solid head, usually of metal, set transversely to the handle, used for beating, breaking, driving nails, etc. Hence: a machine in which a heavy block of metal is used for the same purpose (see steam-hammer, tilt-hammer n., trip-hammer n.). knight of the hammer, a blacksmith or hammerman. throwing the hammer, an athletic contest, consisting in throwing a heavy hammer as far as possible.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > driving or beating tools > [noun] > hammer
hammerOE
martel1481
OE Cynewulf Juliana 237 Ða wæs mid clustre carcernes duru behliden, homra geweorc.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 272/36 Malleus, hamer.
c1050 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 182/23 Porticulus, hamor.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 210 Wult þu þet god nabbe nan fur inhis smiððe ne balies ne homeres.
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 1164 As hys brothres hamers ronge Vpon hys Anuelet vp and doon.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iv. xxx. 78 Withouten strook of hamour.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 225/1 Hamur [v.r. hambyr, hamowre], malleus.
1528 in W. Rye Cromer (1889) 55 Withe too grett yerne hambers.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 161v Such maces and hammers as are vsed in the warres.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 206 Mechanicke Slaues With greazie Aprons, Rules, and Hammers . View more context for this quotation
1717 D. Defoe Mem. Church of Scotl. ii. 138 He that has a Nail to drive, will not want a Hammer.
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. ii. ii. 234 The perforated oblong stone for a hammer.
1851 T. Wright & G. F. Richardson Introd. Geol. (new ed.) 473 [Those] known by the name of Sedgwick's, and by that of De la Beche's geological hammer.
1851 T. Wright & G. F. Richardson Introd. Geol. (new ed.) 474 Mineralogical hammers of various forms.
1859 J. D. Burn Autobiogr. Beggar Boy (ed. 4) 4 The marriage was celebrated in a common lodging house in Gretna Green. I believe the ceremony was performed by a knight of the hammer.
b. figurative. A person or agency that smites, beats down, or crushes, as with blows of a hammer. [Cf. Latin malleus, Old French martel.]
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the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > crushing, stifling, or overwhelming > one who or that which
quenchera1382
hammer1382
suppresser1543
suppressor1560
quench-coal1615
pulverizer1635
stifler1642
smotherer1648
queller1804
overwhelmer1807
cold douche1835
squelcher1854
putter-down1869
steamroller1896
1308 Inscr. on tomb of Edw. I in Westm. Abbey Edvardus Primus: Scotorum Malleus: Hic est: mcccviii: Pactum serva.]
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Jer. I. 23 Hou to-broke and to-brosid is the hamer of al erthe?
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 43 Saladinus..þe strong hamer of Cristen men.
1614 J. Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue iv. 30 Let my victorious hand Be scourge and hammer of this Heathen Band.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 93 As Malleus Scotorum, the Hammer, or mauler of the Scots, is written on the Tomb of King Edward the first, in Westminster: Incus Scotorum, the Anvile of the Scots, might as properly be written on the Monument (had he any) of Edward the second.
1673 H. Hickman Hist. Quinq-articularis Epist. sig. a3 St. Austin (the hammer of Pelagianism).
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned (1713) ii. i. 154 Broken by the hammer of affliction.
1873 E. Thompson Hist. Eng. xxviii. ⁋5 Thomas Cromwell..has been called ‘the Hammer of the Monks’.
2. In various specific senses or uses:† b. The knocker of a door. Obsolete.
a. A lever with a hard head arranged so as to strike a bell, as in a clock.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > lever > [noun] > others
hammer1546
pawl1730
swinger1825
key1837
throw lever1866
sweep-rod1867
bell-crank1881
control lever1887
touch key1957
1546 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. Ludlow (1869) 26 Item, for shotynge on hammer and a sprynge.
1600 W. Cornwallis Ess. I. xi. sig. G4v A Clocke, whose hammer was stricken by an Image like a man.
1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 319 Within the gray church-tower The hammer strikes the midnight hour.
1872 H. T. Ellacombe Church Bells Devon i. 22 At Exeter..each bell has a sort of clock hammer striking on the outside.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of door > [noun] > door fittings > door-knocker
ringc1405
crow1579
hammer1585
knocker1598
clapper1617
ringle1639
rapper1767
door-knocker1839
ring knocker1841
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 214/2 Cornix..the ring or iron hammer wherewith we knocke at the doore.
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Aldáua de puerta The ring or hamer of a doore.
1625–6 S. Purchas Pilgrimes ii. 1661 They neuer knock at the Gate (for there is no Ring or Hammer).
1627 W. Duncomb tr. V. d'Audiguier Tragi-comicall Hist. our Times vi. 104 They heard againe great knocking at the gate by the hammer thereof.
c. Firearms. (a) (In a flintlock) a piece of steel covering the flash-pan and struck by the flint; (b) (in a percussion-lock) a spring lever which strikes the percussion-cap on the nipple; (c) applied to analogous contrivances by which the charge is exploded in various modern kinds of guns.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > lock > hammer
hammer1590
dog-head1601
doga1679
striker1824
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons ii. 47 To strike just upon the wheeles being fire-lockes, or upon the hammers or steeles, if they be Snap-hances.
1745 J. T. Desaguliers tr. Gravesande Nat. Philos. I. 108 To drive the Cock, which carries the Flint against the Hammer.
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 30 The flint strikes the hammer.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1203 Percussion-gun, with an improved under-box and a safety hammer.
d. A small bone of the ear; the malleus.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > bones of ear > malleus and parts
mallet1578
hammer1615
malleolus1615
malleus1646
manubrium1855
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 531 With three Bones, the smallest of the whole body..the first is called the Hammer, the second the Anuile, the third the Stirrop.
1718 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt Relig. Philosopher I. xviii. v. 247 The Auditory Bones..are..four in number,..the Hammer,..the Anvil,..the Stirrup, and between the Anvil and Stirrup there lies..a small..Bone.
1879 H. Calderwood Relations Mind & Brain 71 The first bone has a rounded head, a narrow neck..its shape has led to its name hammer.
e. A small hammer or mallet used by auctioneers to indicate by a rap the sale of an article. Hence in phrases, as to bring (also send, put up) to the hammer, to sell by auction; to go (also come) to (or under) the hammer, to be sold by auction.A similar hammer is used by a chairman to call a meeting to order.
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society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > signalling with other sounding instruments > [noun] > small hammer, gavel, etc.
silence1556
hammer1717
society > trade and finance > selling > a public sale > sell by public sale [verb (transitive)] > sell by auction > offer for sale by auction
to set upc1535
to put up1678
to bring (also send, put up) to the hammer1828
society > trade and finance > selling > a public sale > hold a sale [verb (intransitive)] > be sold by auction
go?a1425
to pass under the spear1600
go (also come) to (or under) the hammer1842
1717 M. Prior Alma iii. 571 When my dear volumes touch the hammer.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 291 Oft as the price-deciding hammer falls.
1828 Marly: Life of Planter 181 These girls were brought to the hammer to pay their father's debts, being held to be part of his moveable property.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Audley Court in Poems (new ed.) II. 45 His books..Came to the hammer here in March.
1856 C. Reade It is never too Late I. x. 145 He threatened to foreclose, and sell the house under the hammer.
1857 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art ii. 128 If you like it, keep it; if not, send it to the hammer.
f. (a) A small wooden mallet with a padded end or head, held in the hand, with which the strings of a dulcimer or similar instrument are struck; (b) a part of the action of a pianoforte, consisting of a slender wooden shank and a padded wooden head, which strikes the strings when the corresponding key is pressed down.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > hammer
hammer1774
under-hammer1840
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > dulcimer > [noun] > hammer
hammer1879
1774 J. Merlin Specif. Patent 1081 A set of Hammers of the nature of those used in the kind of Harpsichords called Piano Forte.
1783 J. Broadwood Specif. Patent 1379 The hammers which strike the strings.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 140/1 The action of the square piano-forte, on its first introduction, consisted of a key, a lifter, a hammer, and a damper.
1879 J. Stainer Music of Bible 52 The leap from a dulcimer to a pianoforte would have been immediate, if the first instruments with keyboards had hammers wherewith to strike the strings.
1880 Hipkins in Grove Dict. Music I. 468/2 The dulcimer, laid upon a table or frame, is struck with hammers.
g. (See quot. 1912.)
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1912 Motor Man. (ed. 14) ii. 40 The Low-tension Tappet... A metal lever, sometimes called a ‘hammer’ or ‘finger’, in direct contact with the engine, is pivoted in such a way that it normally touches the inside end of the pin.
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1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 127 In every forge or hammer there are two fires at the least.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > other disorders of cattle
murrainc1450
gall1577
gargyse1577
sprenges1577
wisp1577
closh1587
milting1587
moltlong1587
hammer1600
mallet1600
scurvy1604
wither1648
speed1704
nostril dropping1708
bladdera1722
heartsick1725
throstling1726
striking1776
feather-cling1799
hollow-horn1805
weed1811
blood striking1815
the slows1822
toad-bit1825
coast-fever1840
horn-distemper1843
rat's tail1847
whethering1847
milk fever1860
milt-sickness1867
pearl tumour1872
actinomycosis1877
pearl disease1877
rat-tail1880
lumpy jaw1891
niatism1895
cripple1897
rumenitis1897
Rhodesian fever1903
reticulitis1905
barbone1907
contagious abortion1910
trichomoniasis1915
shipping fever1932
New Forest disease1954
bovine spongiform encephalopathy1987
BSE1987
mad cow disease1988
East Coast fever2009
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxiii. 132 The stithie hapning to the oxe, being otherwise called a mallet or hammer, is knowen when the beast hath his haire standing vpright all ouer his body.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 172.
5. A match at throwing the hammer. (See note to sense 1.)
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1897 Whitaker's Almanack 635/1 J. Flanagan..won the Hammer with 131 ft. 11 in.
Phrases
hammer and tongs (colloquial): with might and main (like a blacksmith showering his blows on the iron taken with the tongs from the forge-fire). hammer and pincers: a phrase descriptive of the noise made by a horse striking the hind-foot against the fore-foot: cf. click n.1 and int., forging n.1 hammer and sickle: an emblem consisting of a crossed hammer and sickle, used as a symbol of the industrial worker and the peasant, e.g. on the national flag of the U.S.S.R.; hence used allusively of Soviet-type Communism. Thor's hammer, hammer of Thor: (a) the hammer carried by the god Thor in Norse mythology; (b) a figure somewhat like a cross (= fylfot n.); (c) a prehistoric ornament resembling a hammer. up to the hammer (colloquial or slang): up to the standard, first-rate, excellent.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > with great vigour or energy
with (also in) mood and maineOE
vigour13..
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
with (one's) forcec1380
like anything1665
hammer and tongs1708
like stour1787
(in) double tides1788
like blazes1818
like winking1827
with a will1827
like winky1830
like all possessed1833
in a big way1840
like (or worse than) sin1840
full swing1843
like a Trojan1846
like one o'clock1847
like sixty1848
like forty1852
like wildfire1857
like old boots1865
like blue murder1867
like steam1905
like stink1929
like one thing1938
like a demon1945
up a storm1953
society > communication > indication > insignia > [noun] > specific emblems, badges, or cognizances > national
ravenOE
thistle1488
red cross1523
St George's cross1548
Britannia1605
red rose1618
British Lion1687
shamrock1712
leek1714
American eagle1782
rising sun1787
white horse1814
Bird of Freedom1825
Union Jack1847
maple leaf1860
meatball1919
red star1920
hammer and sickle1921
chakra1947
society > authority > rule or government > politics > political philosophy > communism > [noun] > other types of communism
neo-Communism1923
post-communism1931
hammer and sickle1935
Titoism1947
Naxalism1970
Eurocommunism1976
1708 Brit. Apollo 20–25 Aug. I'm now coming at you, with Hammer and Tongs.
1799 Sporting Mag. 14 187 To go hammer and pincers, is to over-reach and strike the hinder toe upon the fore-heel.
1801 Sporting Mag. 17 119 For Hammer and Pinchers, or over-reaching.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xvi. 278 Our ships were soon hard at it, hammer and tongs.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. iv. 149 By Thor's hammer, boys, I have been an outlaw but five years now.
1882 M. Peacock in Academy 7 Oct. 259 You shall mark your food with the hammer of Thor, and think you are signing a holy sign.
1884 W. C. Russell Jack's Courtship in Longman's Mag. III. 241 What cooking there was in it was up to the hammer.
1887 W. P. Frith Autobiogr. I. xxi. 277 He turns to me, and we went at it hammer and tongs.
1921 Times 20 Sept. 4/6 The subjects of the..designs [of Bolshevist postage stamps] are symbolical of Labour..the 20 roubles a shield charged with the device of a hammer and sickle crossed.
1933 H. G. Wells Shape of Things to Come iii. §11. 330 There was still no discord with Russia; there the blazon of the wings was put up side by side with the old hammer and sickle.
1935 E. Weekley Something about Words 27 A new ideal in literature and poetry, a kind of ‘hammer and sickle’ conception of artistic composition.
1937 H. G. Wells Brynhild v. 65 It might be possible to indicate whether the flavouring [of a book] were sexual, intellectual, left, right, or detective, by some variation in the general design, an obelisk, for example, the hammer and sickle, the swastika or what-not.
1958 Listener 5 June 928/2 An Algiers broadcast said the choice was ‘between the Hammer and Sickle and the Cross of Lorraine’.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
hammer-bar n.
hammer-beat n.
ΚΠ
1867 R. W. Emerson May-day & Other Pieces 28 The joiner's hammer-beat.
hammer-bolt n.
hammer-boy n.
ΚΠ
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 42 Forge and Hammer Boy.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 19 Aug. 9/4 There has been a considerable shortage of hammer boys in most of the mining districts.
hammer-clang n.
hammer-drudge n.
ΚΠ
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 183 The grosest hammer-drudge in a country.
hammer-mark n.
hammer-rod n.
ΚΠ
1881 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (ed. 4) 118 The hammer rod is attached to the end of the longer lever.
hammer-shed n.
ΚΠ
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 13 The blast-furnaces that stand near the hammer-shed.
hammer-spring n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > lock > hammer > hammer-spring
mainspringa1640
hammer-spring1823
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. at Hammer Hammer-spring, the spring on which the hammer of the gun-lock works.
1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 107 The little finger touches the hammer-spring.
hammer-stroke n.
ΚΠ
1580 in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) II. 310 The steele obeyeth the hammer-stroke.
b. (In sense 2f(b).)
hammer-butt n.
ΚΠ
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 141/2 Block passed through the hammer butt.
1896 A. J. Hipkins Descr. & Hist. Pianoforte Gloss. Hammer-Butt, the centred butt of the hammer-shank in the so-called English action, shaped with the notch against which the sticker of the hopper works.
hammer-felt n.
ΚΠ
1890 Daily News 12 Nov. 5/5 A local tuner had ingeniously brightened the tone of a piano by anointing the hammer-felts with a mixture of whiting and glue.
hammer-fork n.
hammer-rail n.
ΚΠ
1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 141/2 (Piano-forte) Hammer rail.
hammer-shank n.
ΚΠ
1896 A. J. Hipkins Descr. & Hist. Pianoforte 29 Cedar has been much used for hammer-shanks on account of its elasticity.
C2. Objective, similative, and instrumental.
a.
hammer-beater n.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xli. 15 His herte..shal be streyned as the stithie of an hamer betere.
hammer-catcher n.
hammer-wielder n.
b.
hammer-proof adj.
hammer-shaped adj.
hammer-strong adj.
C3.
hammer-action n. (a) action of or as of a hammer; (b) those parts of a piano which compose and control the hammers.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > other parts, etc.
ogee front1815
sticker1822
fall1823
string-plate1827
piano leg1852
polychord1858
agraffe1860
mopstick1870
music rest1874
check-bara1877
hammer-action1885
escapement1896
set-off1896
set-off button1896
shift1896
shifting keyboard1896
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 71/2 An altered German harpsichord, the hammer action of which..may have been taken from Schroeter's diagram.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 72/1 In Frederici's upright grand action..the movement is practically identical with the hammer action of a German clock.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 7/2 The explosion, which was probably caused by the hammer action of the water.
hammer-axe n. a tool consisting of a hammer and axe combined (Craig, 1847).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > axe > [noun] > other axes
bole-axc1175
flesh-axe1424
stybill?a1500
brake-axe1590
holing-axe1819
side axe1871
hammer-axe1927
1927 H. Peake & H. J. Fleure Priests & Kings 165 Perforated hammer-axes..are said to have been found [at Tripolye].
hammer-block n. the steel face of a steam-hammer.
ΚΠ
1861 W. Fairbairn Iron 121 The hammer-block is guided in its vertical descent by two planed guides or projections.
hammer-blow n. a blow or stroke of a hammer; also in the steam-engine (see quot. 1887).
ΚΠ
1887 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Jan. 42 The so-called hammer-blow in locomotives is the irregularity of the pressure exerted between the wheel and rail, which arises from the vertically-unbalanced action of the counter-weights placed in the wheel to neutralize the horizontal action of the piston and other moving parts.
hammer-cap n. a cap covering the cock of a gun.
ΚΠ
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Hammer-cap.
hammer-cramp n. a form of cramp or spasm to which hammermen are liable.
ΚΠ
1883 R. Macdonnell in Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 May 912 (title) Hammer-cramp.
hammer-dress v. transitive to dress (stone) by strokes of a hammer.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with stone > build or construct with stone [verb (transitive)] > dress stone
scapple1443
dress1501
broach1544
scabble1620
scalp1725
bed1793
rough-dress1807
hammer-dress1837
scapple-dress1840
scutch1848
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. 191 There are four viaducts of hammer-dressed sandstone.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) 272 He hammer-dressed his stones with fewer strokes than other workmen.
1939 J. D. S. Pendlebury Archaeol. Crete iii. 98 The stones are invariably hammer-dressed, the saw not yet being used for masonry.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 401/1 Hammer-dressed, a term applied to stone surfaces left with a rough finish produced by the hammer.
hammer drill n. a percussion drill.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > drill > power drills > percussion drills
pneumatic drill1861
percussion drill1871
road drill1907
hammer drill1908
piston drill1910
jackhammer1912
1908 R. Peele Compressed Air Plant xx. 249 Numerous small air hammer drills..have come into favor in the past few years... The hammer drill strikes a light blow.
1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 958/1 Machine drills underwent important changes during 1910–20, especially in the development of the ‘hammer’ drills... In the hammer drill, the bit is held stationary..and is struck a rapid succession of blows by the reciprocating piston-like hammer.
hammer-fish n. the hammer-headed shark.
ΚΠ
1835 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. Eng. Lang. Hammer-Fish, a rapacious fish; the balance-fish.
hammer-flaw n.
ΚΠ
1729 G. Shelvocke, Jr. tr. K. Siemienowicz Great Art Artillery iv. 182 Take of the Filings of Iron or of Hammerflaw.
hammer-flush n. the flakes of heated iron struck off by a hammer.
hammer-gun n. a gun fired by means of a hammer (see sense 2c).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > [noun] > type of firearm > by method of firing
hammer-gun1645
percussion1807
detonating gun1814
detonator1822
flintlock1833
flint-gun1837
needle-gun1850
pin-fire1867
rimfire1889
miquelet1926
1645 J. Corbet Hist. Relation Mil. Govt. Gloucester 114 The line..strongly guarded with hammer Guns, & Murtherers placed on the Flanks.
1886 Daily News 16 Sept. 7/2 He used a breech-loading double-barrelled hammer gun, with two triggers within a guard.
hammer-hard adj. made hard by hammering.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ii. 28 Hammer-hard, is when you harden Iron or Steel with much Hammering on it.
hammer-harden v. transitive to harden (metals) by hammering.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 92 The Iron Saws are only Hammer-hardned.
1846 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery (new ed.) 105 We recommend hammer-hardening in all mixtures containing iron.
hammer-lock v. transitive.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > wrestling > wrestle with [verb (transitive)] > manoeuvres
casta1300
hurl1613
hip1675
back-clamp1713
buttock1823
fling1825
hipe1835
cross-buttock1878
pin1879
hank1881
hammer-lock1905
scissor1907
body slam1932
powerbomb1993
1905 Daily Chron. 21 Feb. 7/4 The very thought of being ‘hammer-locked’ should be enough to deter the most confirmed ‘disorderly’.
hammer-lock n. Wrestling a position in which a wrestler is held with one arm bent behind his back; also figurative.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > wrestling > [noun] > manoeuvres
swengOE
turn?c1225
castc1400
trip1412
fall?a1425
foil1553
collar1581
lock1598
faulx1602
fore-hip1602
forward1602
inturn1602
mare1602
hug1617
disembracement1663
buttock1688
throw1698
back-lock1713
cross-buttock1713
flying horse1713
in holds1713
buttocker1823
chip1823
dogfall1823
cross-buttocker1827
hitch1834
bear hug1837
backfall1838
stop1840
armlock1841
side hug1842
click1846
catch-hold1849
back-breaker1867
back-click1867
snap1868
hank1870
nelson1873
headlock1876
chokehold1886
stranglehold1886
hip lock1888
heave1889
strangle1890
pinfall1894
strangler's grip1895
underhold1895
hammer-lock1897
scissor hold1897
body slam1899
scissors hold1899
armbar1901
body scissors1903
scissors grip1904
waist-hold1904
neck hold1905
scissors1909
hipe1914
oshi1940
oshi-dashi1940
oshi-taoshi1940
pindown1948
lift1958
whip1958
Boston crab1961
grapevine1968
powerbomb1990
1897 Pearson's Mag. III. 638 Hammer lock and Nelson on the ground.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands vi. 72 Jest you take a 'ammerlock holt iv yerself, 'n' 'ave some dam consideration fer others.
1907 G. B. Shaw Let. 23 Sept. (1956) 107 Short of giving Phyllis a leading part, and thus giving you the hammer lock on him, I dont know what to do.
1944 Infantry Jrnl. (U.S.) June 25 He got his Jap in a hammerlock.
1965 Economist 4 Dec. 1072/2 These are fuzzy far-off dreams, considering the right wing's hammerlock on the Republican party today.
hammer-mill n. a water-mill driving a hammer in a small forge.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > forging equipment > forge-hammer > machinery for
hammer-mill1610
forge-mill1728
tilt-mill1825
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 306 Pooles and waters..of power sufficient to driue hammer milles, which beating upon the iron, resound all over the places adjoyning.
1884 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 326 To form ponds for driving the hammer-mills.
hammer-oyster n. = hammer-shell n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Aviculidae > genus Malleus > member of
hammer-shell1712
mallet-headed oyster1753
hammer-oyster1756
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 52 Of all the curious shells..the hammer oyster was what I wondered at most.
1854 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca ii. 261 The ‘hammer-oyster’ is remarkable for its form, which becomes extremely elongated with age; both ears are long, and the umbones central.
hammer-palsy n. paralysis of the arm caused by use of the hammer.
ΚΠ
1869 W. Frank-Smith in Lancet 27 Mar. 427 (title) Hephæstic Hemiplegia (Hammer Palsy).
hammer-pick n. a tool with a head formed as a hammer on one side and a pick on the other.
hammer-pike n. ‘a long-shafted weapon, like the war-hammer..carried by the subalterns in charge of the flag under the First [French] Empire’ (Farrow Milit. Encycl. 1885).
hammer-pond n. a pond in which water for driving a hammer-mill is stored.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pond > [noun] > which drives mill
mill-troughOE
mill-poolOE
mill stankc1430
miller-pita1500
millpond1697
hammer-pond1887
1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 366 Hammer-ponds.
1895 C. R. B. Barrett Surrey vii. 168 Parallel to the road..I see a long series of hammer ponds.
hammer-price n. Stock Market the price realized for shares (of a defaulter) closed at the hammer.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > other specific prices
subscription price1676
mint price1758
standard1778
pool price1789
O.P.1810
stumpage1835
mint value1839
maximum price1841
piece price1865
street price1865
supply price1870
base price1876
hammer-price1900
doorbuster1917
off-price1933
reference price1943
1900 Westm. Gaz. 4 June 7/1 He can have the stock closed at the hammer price.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 13 May 9/1 The actual dealings in the shares being between £6 and £8 per share and the hammer price £2.
hammer-rifle n. a rifle fired by means of a hammer.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > rifle > types of
three-o(h)-three1683
air rifle1801
yager1817
big bore1838
seventy-five1840
telescopic rifle1850
Minié rifle1851
needle rifle1856
pea rifle1856
Lancaster1857
six-shooting1858
Whitworth1858
Henry1861
polygroove1863
telescopic-sighted rifle1863
spencer1866
magazine rifle1867
Snider rifle1868
chassepot1869
Martini–Henry rifle1869
Winchester1871
Mauser rifle1872
Martini1876
saloon rifle1881
express1884
express rifle1884
Mannlicher1884
Mauser1887
Lee-Enfield1888
Flobert1890
pump gun1890
take-down1895
two-two1895
Ross rifle1901
hammer-rifle1907
sporter1907
French 751914
twenty-two1925
machine-gun rifle1941
assault rifle1950
assault weapon1968
kalashnikov1970
assault rifle1975
1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 634 Hammer rifles.
1920 G. Burrard Notes on Sporting Rifles 15 Hammerless ejectors are better than non-ejectors and hammer rifles.
hammer-scale n. the coating of oxide which forms on red-hot iron and can be separated by hammering (also called forge-scale).
hammer-sedge n. Carex hirta.
ΚΠ
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. Hammersedge, Carex hirta.
hammer-shark n. the hammer-headed shark.
ΚΠ
1877 W. C. Bryant Sella in Poems 146 Hideous hammer-sharks, Chasing their prey.
hammer-shell n. the hammer-shaped shell of a bivalve mollusc of the genus Malleus; (also) the animal itself (also called hammer-oyster).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Aviculidae > genus Malleus > member of
hammer-shell1712
mallet-headed oyster1753
hammer-oyster1756
1712 Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 349 A sort of Rock or Tree-Oyster, call'd by some a Hammer-Shell from its Shape.
hammer-slag n.
hammer-slough n. = hammer-scale n.
ΚΠ
1736 Kingsmill Eyre Specif. Patent 553 There is then added..a certain small quantity of..hammer slough.
hammer-stone n. a prehistoric stone implement resembling, or used as, a hammer.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > types of tools generally > prehistoric tool > [noun] > types of
flintstonec1400
celt1748
fairy hammer1815
axe1851
flint-flake1851
stone-axe1864
flake-knife1865
scraper1865
thumb-flint1865
tool-stone1865
saddle quern1867
fabricator1872
grattoir1872
hammer-stone1872
tribrach1873
flake1875
hand-axe1878
pick1888
turtle-back1890
racloir1892
eolith1895
pebble chopper1895
palaeotalith1897
tranchet1899
point1901
pygmy flint1907
microlith1908
Gravette1911
keeled scraper1911
lissoir1911
coup de poing1912
end-scraper1915
burin1916
rostro-carinate1919
tortoise core1919
blade1921
axe-adze1925
petit tranchet1926
tournette1927
pebble tool1931
raclette1932
biface1934
cleaver1935
thumbnail scraper1937
microblade1959
linguate1966
1872 J. Evans Anc. Stone Implements ii. 29 The hammer-stones used in the manufacture of flint hatchets.
1891 D. Wilson Right Hand 41 Similar hammer-stones occur in Danish peat-mosses.
hammer-thrower n. (see note at sense 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > athletics > [noun] > specific athletic sports other than running > throwing weight, shot, or ball > thrower
putter1574
discobolus1638
shot-putter1882
weight-thrower1895
hammer-thrower1899
1899 Daily News 18 July 7/2 The hammer-throwers were out in the morning.
1968 Listener 11 July 49/2 There have been a number of marriages..between hammer-throwers and female discus-throwers.
hammer-throwing n. (see note at sense 1).
ΚΠ
1873 M. E. Braddon Lucius Davoren Prol. ii Geoffrey Hossack practises hammer-throwing with an iron crowbar.
hammer-toe n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [noun] > of toes
hammer-toe1886
1886 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Hammer-toe..a distortion of the second toe..so that it is bent upwards at an angle, the two terminal phalanges being flexed.
1894 Daily News 4 May 6/4 That resemblance to a section of a square arch which is known..as ‘hammer toe’.
hammer-tongs n. tongs having projecting pins for holding hammer-heads or other articles with holes punched in them.
hammerwise adv. in the manner of a hammer.
ΚΠ
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 July 11/1 A second will..thump down his fist, hammerwise, to nail his arguments.
hammer-work n. (a) work performed with a hammer; (b) something constructed or shaped with the hammer.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > [noun] > driving or beating tools > work done with hammer
hammer-work1398
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Tollem. MS) xvi. iv No þinge streccheþ more with hamoure-werke þan golde.
1833 H. Ellis Elgin Marbles I. v. 107 Made several statues of this hammer-work.
hammer-wrought adj. worked into shape with the hammer, as iron, brass, etc.
Derivatives
hammer-like adj.
ΚΠ
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 301 The squalus with a very broad transverse hammer-like head.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hammern.2
Probably = German ammer, the yellow bunting or yellowhammer n.
Π
1606 G. Chapman Monsieur D'Oliue iv. S'light I ever took thee to be a hammer of the right feather.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
Hammern.4
/ˈhamə/, U.S. /ˈhæmər/ attributive. Designating a film made by Hammer Film Productions, esp. any of a series of horror films made during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, characterized by a lurid, melodramatic style and typically featuring established horror-story characters such as Dracula or Frankenstein's monster; often in Hammer horror. Also more generally: of or relating to films resembling these.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > horror film
horror film1936
Hammer horror1958
horror1958
giallo1965
schlocker1969
shlock horror movie1971
splatterpunk1988
shlock horror film1989
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [adjective] > other types
costumed1851
foreign language1904
first run1910
Keystone1912
photodramatic1914
serial1915
coming of age1919
edge-of-your-seat1922
psychodramatic1927
omnibus1928
straight1936
low-budget1937
no-budget1937
screwball1937
Ealing1939
blockbusting1943
private eye1946
film noir1952
white telephone1952
portmanteau1953
uncut1953
anthology1955
three-D1955
Hammer1958
noir1958
co-production1959
kitchen sink1959
kidult1960
docudrama1961
cinéma vérité1963
maudit1963
filmi1965
indie1968
triple-X1969
XXX1969
drama-documentary1970
cheapie1973
gross-out1973
high concept1973
chopsocky1974
hard R1974
buddy movie1975
sci-fi1977
mondo1979
hack-and-slash1981
microbudget1981
hack-and-slay1982
slice-and-dice1982
fly on the wall1983
psychotronic1983
noirish1985
Mad Max1986
stoner1987
bonkbusting1993
straight to DVD1997
1958 Financial Times 1 Aug. 15/7 Hammer films have a distinctly arch sense of comedy about them.
1961 Financial Times 22 Dec. 14/8 Still, the combination of Bergman and Hammer horror is disconcerting.
1964 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Aug. 764/4 All good Hammer-film stuff, which does not really break through our complacency to tell us that life is beastly.
1996 Illustr. London News Christmas No. 17/3 Presiding over this self-styled freak show is..Richard O'Brien, who lends more than a touch of Hammer horror to some apparently nasty goings-on.
2011 Times 26 Nov. (Saturday Review) 28/1 Robinson chortles and rubs his hands with glee as he presents this Hammer-horror documentary, bathed in blue light and oozing with viscous blood.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hammerv.
I. transitive.
1. literal.
a. To strike, beat, or drive with or as with a hammer.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > work with tools or equipment [verb (transitive)] > driving or beating tools
strike1340
hammerc1430
maul?1440
riveta1450
calla1522
peena1522
peck1533
mallet1594
beetle1608
pickaxe1800
sledge1816
sledgehammer1834
tack-hammer1865
pin1875
pile-drive1894
staple gun1960
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) iv. xviii. 184 Whan I haue..beten him and hamered him.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Ji To hamer, marteler.
1642 J. Goodwin (title) Anti-Cavalierisme..for the suppressing of that Butcherly brood of Cavaliering Incendiaries, who are now hammering England, to make an Ireland of it.
1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 334 He hammered the anvil hard into the ground!
1890 S. W. Baker Wild Beasts II. 167 They commenced hammering the good dogs with their heavy bamboos.
1907 F. H. Burnett Shuttle xxxviii. 379 Jem Belter, who ‘hammered’ a typewriter.
1959 M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 26 The Potoki boys hammered the piano and banged the drums.
b. To fasten with or as with a hammer, e.g. by nailing; to drive up, down, etc., with a hammer.
ΚΠ
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun 152 Crist as he was ruthfully hamerd upon the croce.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 12 There Beings..Are hammer'd to the galling Oar for life.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 112 All that long morn the lists were hammer'd up.
1873 J. Richards On Arrangem. Wood-working Factories 35 If the hooks are hammered down too hard.
c. To beat out, as metal, with a hammer; to shape with blows of a hammer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > shape or give shape to [verb (transitive)] > by or as by hammering
forgec1400
stithyc1420
hammer1522
anvil1596
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > forge or shape > in specific way
batterc1380
beat1483
peena1522
hammer1522
malleate1598
extenuate1599
upset1678
planish1688
to set down1703
foliate1704
raise1774
skelp1803
tilt1825
jump1851
cold-hammer1858
stub1869
upend1932
ding1939
coin1940
1522 [implied in: 1522 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 116 A ewer of pewter hamerd. (at hammered adj. a)].
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 200 The Lord hath dilated me by hammering me vpon the anvild.
1708 W. King Art of Love i. 16 Is it not hammer'd all from Vigo's plate?
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. ii. i. 214 Armillæ of pure gold,..hammered into rounded bars.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 681 This is hammered into shape.
1878 S. Smiles Robert Dick xiii. 94 Has been literally hammered out by the force of the waves.
2. figurative.† b. To discuss, debate. Obsolete.
a. (from 1c.) To devise, design, contrive, or work out laboriously; to put into shape with much intellectual effort. Often with out. (Frequent in 17th cent. ‘Used commonly in contempt’, Johnson.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > plan [verb (transitive)] > devise (a plan)
lay11..
compound1520
draw?c1550
hammer1582
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 66 What broyle Tyrus angrye doth hammer.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 76 Hym shee left daunted with feare, woords duitiful hamring For to reply.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. Kv He hammered in his head many meanes to stay the faire Samela.
1628 King Charles I in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. (1659) 631 The profession of both Houses in the time of hammering this Petition.
1681 H. Neville Plato Redivivus 125 The Peers are Co-ordinate with the Commons in presenting and hammering of Laws.
1751 Affecting Narr. H.M.S. Wager 139 He endeavoured to hammer out some excuses for him.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I clxii. 84 At first he tried to hammer an excuse.
1887 G. Saintsbury Hist. Elizabethan Lit. viii. 314 Songs like these are not to be hammered out by the most diligent ingenuity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > hold discussions about, debate [verb (transitive)] > exhaustively
beat1470
hammer1594
extund1610
crasha1670
to thresh out1805
to thrash out1829
to hash out1916
1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits viii. 117 A question, much hammered betweene Plato & Aristotle.
c. To drive by dint of reiterated argument or persuasion (as an idea, etc. into a person's head).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)] > induce (an action, etc.) by persuasion > drive (something) by iterated persuasion
whet1528
hammer1646
the mind > language > speech > repetition > repeat [verb (transitive)] > often or over and over > communicate by dint of reiteration
hammer1646
1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 63 Others it must either be forced and hammered into.
1844 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 241 Hammering into his head the designs I wished for.
1862 C. Kingsley Alton Locke (rev. ed.) Pref. p. xiii That priggishness and forwardness..are soon hammered out of any Cambridge man.
1866 W. Collins Armadale iii. xiv Hammering common sense into his head.
d. Stock Market slang. (a) To declare (a person) a defaulter (see quot. 1887). (b) To beat down the price of (a stock, etc.); to depress (a market).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > influence the market > depress the market
fall1564
bear1840
hammer1865
bang1884
flatten1891
pound1895
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > [verb (transitive)] > fail to meet (obligations) > declare a defaulter
default1597
hammer1865
1865 Harper's Mag. Apr. 619 The chronic bears were amusing themselves by ‘hammering’ i.e. pressing down the price of Hudsons.
1883 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 5/2 Having omitted to settle within that time [the three days' grace] he was promptly ‘hammered’.
1887 Financial Critic 19 Mar. The head Stock Exchange waiter strikes three strokes with a mallet on the side of a rostrum in the Stock Exchange before making formal declaration of default of a member. Thus, to be ‘hammered’, is to be pronounced a defaulter.
1890 Daily News 28 Jan. 6/4 Bears were induced to hammer the market on bad shipments reported from Glasgow.
e. To inflict heavy defeat(s) on, in war, games, etc.; to strike forcefully; to beat up. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > make victorious [verb (transitive)] > conquer or overcome
overcomeeOE
shendc893
awinc1000
overwinOE
overheaveOE
to lay downa1225
mate?c1225
discomfitc1230
win1297
dauntc1300
cumber1303
scomfit1303
fenkc1320
to bear downc1330
confoundc1330
confusec1330
to do, put arrear1330
oversetc1330
vanquishc1330
conquerc1374
overthrowc1375
oppressc1380
outfighta1382
to put downa1382
discomfortc1384
threshc1384
vencuea1400
depressc1400
venque?1402
ding?a1425
cumrayc1425
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
to bring or put to (or unto) utterance1430
distrussc1430
supprisec1440
ascomfita1450
to do stress?c1450
victorya1470
to make (win) a conquest1477
convanquish1483
conquest1485
defeat1485
oversailc1485
conques1488
discomfish1488
fulyie1488
distress1489
overpress1489
cravent1490
utter?1533
to give (a person) the overthrow1536
debel1542
convince1548
foil1548
out-war1548
profligate1548
proflige?c1550
expugnate1568
expugn1570
victor1576
dismay1596
damnify1598
triumph1605
convict1607
overman1609
thrash1609
beat1611
debellate1611
import1624
to cut to (or in) pieces1632
maitrise1636
worst1636
forcea1641
outfight1650
outgeneral1767
to cut up1803
smash1813
slosh1890
ream1918
hammer1948
society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > win, lose, or score [verb (transitive)] > win > defeat
overplayc1460
smother1676
lurch1678
outplay1702
thrash1789
defeat1830
spreadeagle1832
thresh1852
whitewash1867
blank1870
annihilate1886
nip1893
slam1907
plaster1919
skittle1919
rip1927
maul1928
demolish1938
massacre1940
trounce1942
hammer1948
murder1952
to shut out1952
zilch1957
zip1964
trip1974
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > soundly
threshc1384
to knock the socks offa1529
thump1597
thrash1609
thwacka1616
capot1649
to beat to snuff1819
to knock into a cocked hat1830
to —— (the) hell out of1833
sledgehammer1834
rout1835
whop1836
skin1838
whip-saw1842
to knock (the) spots off1850
to make mincemeat of1853
to mop (up) the floor with1875
to beat pointless1877
to lick into fits1879
to take apart1880
to knock out1883
wax1884
contund1885
to give (a person) fits1885
to wipe the floor with1887
flatten1892
to knock (someone) for six1902
slaughter1903
slather1910
to hit for six1937
hammer1948
whomp1952
bulldozer1954
zilch1957
shred1966
tank1973
slam-dunk1975
beast1977
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 90 Hammer, to shell severely. To inflict a heavy defeat on.
1959 Times 28 May 4/6 Smith hammered Slade for two fours and a six.
1973 Times 5 Jan. 17/5 Challenging the well-entrenched leaders in the United Kingdom car rental industry seems to hold no fears for Crook. He is hoping to hammer them on both quality and price.
1973 Courier & Advertiser (Dundee) 14 Feb. 5/3 He was severely injured about the face and his dentures were broken. He had no doubt that he had been ‘hammered’.
II. intransitive.
3.
a. literal. To deal blows with or as with a hammer; to strike a succession of heavy blows; to thump.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (intransitive)]
to-beata1400
hammerc1400
hampera1529
pounce1827
pummel1834
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > work with tools or equipment [verb (intransitive)] > driving or beating tools
strike1340
maulc1390
hammerc1400
peck1481
sledge1654
malleate1660
pane1839
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 2311 Þaȝ he homered heterly, hurt hym no more.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iv. xxx. 78 To bete or hameren vppon his hede by yeuynge of counceylle contrary to his plesaunce.
1587 J. Hooker tr. Giraldus Cambrensis Vaticinall Hist. Conquest Ireland ii. 32 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II We haue no leasure to serue the Muses, but to be hammering with weapons.
1886 G. T. Stokes Ireland & Celtic Church (1888) 349 He found an English tourist hammering away with a geologist's hammer.
1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon I. 186 The lawyer..hammered on the door with his heavy whipstock.
b. Of a pipe: to make a knocking noise, as when a flow of liquid is suddenly stopped by turning a tap. (Cf. water hammer n. 2.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of water > make sound of or like water [verb (intransitive)] > water-hammer
hammer1889
1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. 108 The pump, owing to its not being filled properly at each stroke, will hammer very much.
4. figurative.† a. To devise plans laboriously, ‘cudgel one's brains’, debate or deliberate earnestly (upon, on, at, of); with upon, sometimes, To reiterate, persist in, insist upon. Obsolete.† b. Of an idea: To present itself persistently to one's mind as matter of debate; to be in agitation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > think [verb (intransitive)] > hard
to burst one's brainc1385
to break one's mind (heart)a1450
to break one's brain, mind, wind1530
to beat the brains1579
to rack one's brain (also brains, wit, memory, etc.)1583
hammer1598
beat1604
to cudgel one's brains1604
to bother one's brains (also brain)1755
the mind > language > statement > insistence or persistence > insist or persist [verb (intransitive)]
perseverec1380
clencha1400
standc1400
to stand to it1549
beat1579
insist1596
hammer1598
consist1600
persist1600
re-enforce1603
to swear pink1956
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales xv. viii. 232 He came againe to Rome, hammering greatly with himselfe of going to the prouinces of the East.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. iii. 18 That Whereon, this month I haue bin hamering . View more context for this quotation
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. v. 18) This the heathens had..hammered at.
1777 J. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 293 We have been several days hammering upon money.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > come to mind, occur [verb (intransitive)] > persistently
rollc1435
run1578
hammer1593
1593 G. Fletcher Richard III xviii, in Poems (Grosart) 151 So still a crowne did hammer in my head.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 39 Blood and reuenge are hammering in my head. View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all i. 2 A thousand things are hammering in his head; 'Tis a fruitful Noddle, though I say it.
c. To work hard, toil; to make persistent and laborious attempts. Const. at.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > effort or exertion > exert oneself or make an effort [verb (intransitive)] > toil
sweatc897
swingc1000
swinkOE
travailc1275
carka1350
tavec1350
to-swinkc1386
labourc1390
byswenke?a1400
tevelc1400
toilc1400
pingle1511
carp1522
moilc1529
turmoil1548
mucker1566
tug1619
tuggle1650
fatigue1695
hammer1755
fag1772
bullock1888
slog1888
to sweat one's guts out1890
schlep1937
slug1943
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Hammer, to work; to be busy: in contempt.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 7 May (1939) 166 Hammered on at the Review till my backbone ached.
1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vi. 254 He liked..to hammer away at his poems in a study where chaos reigned supreme.
1887 T. A. Trollope What I Remember I. ix. 215 The examiner had been hammering away at the man next before me for an inordinate time.
1892 A. S. Wilkins in Bookman Oct. 26/2 Hammering away at a point which he wished to enforce.
5. To make reiterated laborious efforts to speak, to stammer. Now only dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > speak inarticulately or with a defect [verb (intransitive)] > stammer or speak hesitantly
stammerc1000
wlaffe1025
stotec1325
humc1374
mafflea1387
stut1388
rattlea1398
famble14..
mammera1425
drotec1440
falterc1440
stackerc1440
hem1470
wallowa1475
tattle1481
mant1506
happer1519
trip1526
hobblea1529
hack1553
stagger1565
faffle1570
stutter1570
hem and hawk1588
ha1604
hammer1619
titubate1623
haw1632
fork1652
hacker1652
lispc1680
hesitate1706
balbutiate1731
haffle1790
hotter1828
stutter1831
ah1853
catch1889
1619 R. West Schoole of Vertue: 2nd Pt. sig. B2 If in thy tale thou hammering stand, or coughing twixt thy words.
1685 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 132 He hammered so long for a Latin word for an ‘address’.
c1817 J. Hogg Tales & Sketches III. 351 Was he hammering over the name.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 78 To Hammer, to speak confusedly, to stammer.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1OE
n.21606
n.41958v.c1400- mirrorly
- mirrorpink
- mirrorpolished
- mirrorreading
- mirrorresembling
- mirrors
- mirrorscaled
- mirrorscript
- mirrorscroll
- mirrorsheen
- mirrorsilverer
- mirrorsilvering
- mirrorstand
- mirrorstone
- mirrorsymmetric
- mirrorsymmetrical
- mirrorthermometer
- mirrortopped
- mirrorwall
- mirrorwork
- mirrorwrite
- mirrorwriter
- mirrory
- mirs
- mirth