Hammer Meaning
/ˈhæmə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
nounThe act of using a hammer to hit something.
Sentence Examples
Bob can no more swim than a hammer can.
Do you mind handing me the hammer?
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a heavy ____ to drive the nail into the wood.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The carpenter used a heavy ____ to drive the long nails into the thick wooden beam.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Men shove statues off pedestals, and use hammers and drills to destroy what’s left."
— 2015 February 26, Ben Wedeman, Dana Ford, “Video shows ISIS militants destroying antiquities in Iraq”, in CNN, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2023:
"He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the massive iron hammers of the whole earth."
— 1849, John Henry Newman, Discourses to Mixed Congregations:
"Hammers are, in essence, reverse kickers. Instead of being set in smaller type like kickers, hammers are set in larger type than headlines."
— 1981, Harry W. Stonecipher, Edward C. Nicholls, Douglas A. Anderson, Electronic Age News Editing, page 104:
"We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town.
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck
And I'm about to put the hammer down.""
— 1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall:
"But the Englishman was close to him—so close that his hand reached the leveled barrel a fraction of a second before the hammer fell upon the cartridge, and the bullet that was intended for Tarzan’s heart whirred harmlessly above his head."
— 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 219:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a heavy ____ to drive the nail into the wood.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The carpenter used a heavy ____ to drive the long nails into the thick wooden beam.