from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Hammer \Ham"mer\ (h[a^]m"m[~e]r), 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[,c]man stone.]
1. An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the
like, consisting of a head, usually of steel or iron,
fixed crosswise to a handle.
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With busy hammers closing rivets up. --Shak.
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2. Something which in form or action resembles the common
hammer; as:
(a) That part of a clock which strikes upon the bell to
indicate the hour.
(b) The padded mallet of a piano, which strikes the wires,
to produce the tones.
(c) (Anat.) The malleus. See under {Ear}.
(d) (Gun.) That part of a gunlock which strikes the
percussion cap, or firing pin; the cock; formerly,
however, a piece of steel covering the pan of a
flintlock musket and struck by the flint of the cock
to ignite the priming.
(e) Also, a person or thing that smites or shatters; as,
St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.
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He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had
been the "massive iron hammers" of the whole
earth. --J. H.
Newman.
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3. (Athletics) 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} (Zool.), 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.
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