hammer

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Hammer, hämmer, and Hämmer

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A hammer (tool).

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). The Germanic *hamaraz "tool with a stone head" derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros (compare Sanskrit अश्मर (aśmará, “stony”)), itself a derivation from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”).

For *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), compare Lithuanian akmuõ, Russian камень (kamenʹ), Serbo-Croatian kamēn, Albanian kmesë (“sickle”), Ancient Greek ἄκμων (ákmōn, “meteor rock, anvil”), Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬨𐬯𐬀‎ (namsa), Sanskrit अश्मन् (áśman)) (root *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”)).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hammer (plural hammers)

  1. A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
  2. A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.
  3. (anatomy) The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
  4. (music) In a piano or dulcimer, a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string.
  5. (sports) A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.
  6. (curling) The last stone in an end.
  7. (frisbee) A frisbee throwing style in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown above the head.
  8. Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
  9. One who, or that which, smites or shatters.
    St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.
    • (Can we date this quote by J. H. Newman and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the massive iron hammers of the whole earth.

Derived terms[edit]

terms derived from hammer (noun)

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Verb[edit]

hammer (third-person singular simple present hammers, present participle hammering, simple past and past participle hammered)

  1. To strike repeatedly with a hammer, some other implement, the fist, etc.
  2. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.
    • (Can we date this quote by Dryden and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      hammered money
  3. (figuratively) To emphasize a point repeatedly.
  4. (sports) To hit particularly hard.
    • 2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0 - 2 Fulham”, in BBC‎[1]:
      This time the defender was teed up by Andrew Johnson's short free-kick on the edge of the box and Baird hammered his low drive beyond Begovic's outstretched left arm and into the bottom corner, doubling his goal tally for the season and stunning the home crowd.
  5. (cycling, intransitive, slang) To ride very fast.
    • 2011, Tim Moore, French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France (page 58)
      Fifteen minutes later, leaving a vapour trail of kitchen smells, I hammered into Obterre.
    • 2019 December 18, Richard Clinnick, “Traction transition: HST to Azuma”, in Rail, page 32:
      Running at line-speed, well over 100mph, it hammers through Doncaster on its way south to London.
  6. (intransitive) To strike internally, as if hit by a hammer.
    I could hear the engine’s valves hammering once the timing rod was thrown.
  7. (transitive, slang, figuratively, sports) To defeat (a person, a team) resoundingly
    We hammered them 5-0!
  8. (transitive, slang, computing) To make high demands on (a system or service).
    • 1995, Optimizing Windows NT (volume 4, page 226)
      So we'll be hammering the server in an unrealistic manner, but we'll see how the additional clients affect overall performance. We'll add two, three, four, and then five clients, […]
  9. (transitive, finance) To declare (a person) a defaulter on the stock exchange.
  10. (transitive, finance) To beat down the price of (a stock), or depress (a market).

Derived terms[edit]

terms derived from hammer (verb)

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Danish[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse hamarr, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /hamər/, [ˈhɑmɐ]

Noun[edit]

hammer c (singular definite hammeren, plural indefinite hammere or hamre)

  1. hammer

Inflection[edit]

Declension of hammer
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hammer hammeren hammere
hamre 		hammerne
hamrene
genitive hammers hammerens hammeres
hamres 		hammernes
hamrenes

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hammer

  1. (colloquial, regional) Contraction of haben wir.
    Da hammer jetz' keine Zeit für.
    We don't have time for that now.

Usage notes[edit]

This contraction is common throughout central Germany, southern Germany, and Austria. It is only occasionally heard in northern Germany.

See also[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

hammer

  1. Alternative form of hamer

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse hamarr, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

hammer m (definite singular hammeren, indefinite plural hammere or hamrer, definite plural hammerne or hamrene)

  1. a hammer (tool)
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

hammer m

  1. indefinite plural of ham

References[edit]

West Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Frisian hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”).

Noun[edit]

hammer c (plural hammers, diminutive hammerke)

  1. hammer

Further reading[edit]

  • “hammer”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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