Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Hammer"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Hammer
(1.) Heb. pattish, used by gold-beaters (Isa. 41:7) and by
quarry-men (Jer. 23:29). Metaphorically of Babylon (Jer. 50:23)
or Nebuchadnezzar.
(2.) Heb. makabah, a stone-cutter's mallet (1 Kings 6:7), or
of any workman (Judg. 4:21; Isa. 44:12).
(3.) Heb. halmuth, a poetical word for a workman's hammer,
found only in Judg. 5:26, where it denotes the mallet with which
the pins of the tent of the nomad are driven into the ground.
(4.) Heb. mappets, rendered "battle-axe" in Jer. 51:20. This
was properly a "mace," which is thus described by Rawlinson:
"The Assyrian mace was a short, thin weapon, and must either
have been made of a very tough wood or (and this is more
probable) of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was
sometimes very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or
string at the lower end by which it could be grasped with
greater firmness."
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hammer \Ham"mer\, n. (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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hammer \Ham"mer\, n. [OE. hamer, AS. hamer, hamor; akin to D.
hamer, G. & Dan. hammer, Sw. hammare, Icel. hamarr, hammer,
crag, and perh. to Gr. ? anvil, Skr. a?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.
With busy hammers closing rivets up. --Shak.
2. Something which in firm 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}. (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 of thing that smites or shatters; as,
St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies.
He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had
been the ``massive iron hammers'' of the whole
earth. --J. H.
Newman.
{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} (Zo["o]l.), 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hammer \Ham"mer\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hammered}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Hammering}.]
1. To beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to
hammer iron.
2. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating.
``Hammered money.'' --Dryden.
3. To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor;
-- usually with out.
Who was hammering out a penny dialogue. --Jeffry.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hammer \Ham"mer\, v. i.
1. To be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if shaping
something with a hammer.
Whereon this month I have hammering. --Shak.
2. To strike repeated blows, literally or figuratively.
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hammer
n 1: the part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when
the trigger is pulled
2: a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to
deliver an impulsive force by striking
3: an athletic competition in which a heavy metal ball that is
attached to a flexible wire is hurled as far as possible
[syn: {hammer throw}]
4: the ossicle attached to the eardrum [syn: {malleus}]
5: a heavy metal sphere attached to a flexible wire; used in
the hammer throw
6: a striker that is covered in felt and that causes the piano
strings to vibrate
7: a power tool for drilling rocks [syn: {power hammer}]
8: a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge [syn:
{gavel}]
9: the act of pounding (delivering repeated heavy blows); "the
sudden hammer of fists caught him off guard"; "the
pounding of feet on the hallway" [syn: {pound}, {hammering},
{pounding}]
v 1: beat with or as if with a hammer
2: of metals [syn: {forge}]
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