battering-ram

CIDE DICTIONARY

battering-ram, n.

An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places. [1913 Webster]
" It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall." Grose. [1913 Webster]
A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally. [1913 Webster]

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