hammer, n. [OE. hamer, AS. hamer, hamor; akin to D. hamer, G. & Dan. hammer, Sw. hammare, Icel. hamarr, hammer, crag, and perh. to Gr. 'a`kmwn anvil, Skr. a stone.].

An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the like, consisting of a head, usually of steel or iron, fixed crosswise to a handle. [1913 Webster]
"With busy hammers closing rivets up." [1913 Webster]

Something which in form or action resembles the common hammer [1913 Webster]
"He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the “massive iron hammers” of the whole earth." [1913 Webster]

A spherical weight attached to a flexible handle and hurled from a mark or ring. The weight of head and handle is usually not less than 16 pounds. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Atmospheric hammer, a dead-stroke hammer in which the spring is formed by confined air. -- Drop hammer, Face hammer, etc. See under Drop, Face, etc. -- Hammer fish. See Hammerhead. -- Hammer hardening, the process of hardening metal by hammering it when cold. -- Hammer shell (Zoöl.), any species of Malleus, a genus of marine bivalve shells, allied to the pearl oysters, having the wings narrow and elongated, so as to give them a hammer-shaped outline; -- called also hammer oyster. -- To bring to the hammer, to put up at auction.

hammer, v. t.

To beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to hammer iron. [1913 Webster]

To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating. Dryden. [1913 Webster]

To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor; -- usually with out. [1913 Webster]
"Who was hammering out a penny dialogue." [1913 Webster]

hammer, v. i.

To be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if shaping something with a hammer. [1913 Webster]
"Whereon this month I have been hammering." [1913 Webster]

To strike repeated blows, literally or figuratively. [1913 Webster]
"Blood and revenge are hammering in my head." [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

hammer, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a tool with a heavy metal head at right angles to the handle, used for breaking, driving nails, etc. b a machine with a metal block serving the same purpose. c a similar contrivance, as for exploding the charge in a gun, striking the strings of a piano, etc.
2 an auctioneer's mallet, indicating by a rap that an article is sold.
3 a a metal ball of about 7 kg, attached to a wire for throwing in an athletic contest. b the sport of throwing the hammer.
4 a bone of the middle ear; the malleus.
--v.
1 a tr. & intr. hit or beat with or as with a hammer. b intr. strike loudly; knock violently (esp. on a door).
2 tr. a drive in (nails) with a hammer. b fasten or secure by hammering (hammered the lid down).
3 tr. (often foll. by in) inculcate (ideas, knowledge, etc.) forcefully or repeatedly.
4 tr. colloq. utterly defeat; inflict heavy damage on.
5 intr. (foll. by at, away at) work hard or persistently at.
6 tr. Stock Exch. declare (a person or a firm) a defaulter.

Idiom

come under the hammer be sold at an auction. hammer and sickle the symbols of the industrial worker and the peasant used as the emblem of the USSR and of international communism. hammer and tongs colloq. with great vigour and commotion. hammer out
1 make flat or smooth by hammering.
2 work out the details of (a plan, agreement, etc.) laboriously.
3 play (a tune, esp. on the piano) loudly or clumsily. hammer-toe a deformity in which the toe is bent permanently downwards.

Derivative

hammering n. (esp. in sense 4 of v.). hammerless adj.

Etymology

OE hamor, hamer

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THESAURUS

hammer
Eustachian tube, air hammer, anvil, assault, attack, auditory apparatus, auditory canal, auditory meatus, auditory nerve, auditory ossicles, auditory tube, auricle, ball peen hammer, bang, barbarize, basilar membrane, baste, batter, beat, beetle, belabor, bony labyrinth, brutalize, buffet, burn, butcher, carry on, cauliflower ear, chipping hammer, claw hammer, cochlea, conch, concha, destroy, dig, din, ding, drive, drop hammer, drub, drudge, drum, drumhead, ear, ear lobe, eardrum, elaborate, electric hammer, endolymph, external ear, fag, fashion, flail, flap, form, go on, grave, grind, grub, hammer away, incus, inner ear, jackhammer, knock, lambaste, larrup, lay waste, lobe, lobule, loot, lug, mallet, malleus, mastoid process, maul, middle ear, moil, mug, organ of Corti, outer ear, oval window, paste, patter, peg, peg away, pelt, perilymph, pile hammer, pillage, pinna, plod, plug, plug along, plug away, pommel, pound, pound away, pulverize, pummel, rage, raising hammer, ramp, rampage, rant, rap, rape, rave, riot, riveting hammer, roar, round window, rubber mallet, ruin, sack, savage, secondary eardrum, semicircular canals, shape, shell, slaughter, sledge, sledgehammer, slog, sow chaos, spank, stamp, stapes, steam hammer, stirrup, stone hammer, storm, stutter, tack hammer, tear, tear around, terrorize, thrash, thresh, thump, toil, travail, triphammer, tympanic cavity, tympanic membrane, tympanum, vandalize, vestibule, violate, wade through, wallop, whip, work away, wreck

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ROGET THESAURUS

hammer

Stammering
VB stammer, stutter, hesitate, falter, hammer, balbutiate, balbucinate, haw, hum and haw, be unable to put two words together, mumble, mutter, maud, mauder, whisper, mince, lisp, jabber, gibber, sputter, splutter, muffle, mump, drawl, mouth, croak, speak thick, speak through the nose, snuffle, clip one's words, murder the language, murder the King's English, murder the Queen's English, mispronounce, missay.

Instrument
N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Repetition
VB repeat, iterate, reiterate, reproduce, echo, reecho, drum, harp upon, battologize, hammer, redouble, recur, revert, return, reappear, recurse, renew, rehearse, do over again, say over again, ring the changes on, harp on the same string, din in the ear, drum in the ear, conjugate in all its moods tenses and inflexions, begin again, go over the same ground, go the same round, never hear the last of, resume, return to, recapitulate, reword.

Impulse
N impulse, sudden thought, impromptu, improvisation, inspiration, flash, spurt, improvisatore, creature of impulse, extemporaneous, impulsive, indeliberate, snap, improvised, improvisate, improvisatory, unpremeditated, unmeditated, improvise, unprompted, unguided, natural, unguarded, spontaneous, instinctive, extempore, extemporaneously, offhand, impromptu, a limproviste, improviso, on the spur of the moment, on the spur of the occasion, impulse, impulsion, impetus, momentum, push, pulsion, thrust, shove, jog, jolt, brunt, booming, boost, throw, explosion, propulsion, percussion, concussion, collision, occursion, clash, encounter, cannon, carambole, appulse, shock, crash, bump, impact, elan, charge, beating, blow, dint, stroke, knock, tap, rap, slap, smack, pat, dab, fillip, slam, bang, hit, whack, thwack, cuff, squash, dowse, swap, whap, punch, thump, pelt, kick, punce, calcitration, ruade, arietation, cut, thrust, lunge, yerk, carom, carrom, clip, jab, plug, sidewinder, sidewipe, sideswipe, hammer, sledge hammer, mall, maul, mallet, flail, ram, rammer, battering ram, monkey, pile-driving engine, punch, bat, cant hook, cudgel, ax, dynamics, seismometer, accelerometer, earthquake detector, impelling, impulsive, impellent, booming, dynamic, dynamical, impelled, a hit, a very palpable hit.

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