Meaning of hammer In English

• 0 a tool consisting of a piece of metal with a flat end that is fixed onto the end of a long, thin, usually wooden handle, used for hitting things

• 1 a heavy metal ball attached to a chain that is thrown as part of a sports event

  • She qualified for the women's hammer final.

• 2 the part of a gun that hits another part when you pull the trigger to send out the bullet

• 3 one of the parts of a piano that hits the strings to make a sound

• 4 one of three very small bones that carry sound from the eardrum to the inner ear

• 5 to hit something with a hammer:

  • Can you hold this nail in position while I hammer it into the door?

  • I could hear you hammering upstairs.

  • My car's got a dent, and I was hoping they'd be able to hammer it out (= remove it by hammering).

• 6 to hit or kick something with a lot of force:

  • I was woken up suddenly by the sound of someone hammering on/at the front door.

  • He hammered the ball into the net, giving France a 3–2 win over Italy.

• 7 to defeat someone completely in a game or a fight:

  • We were hammered in both games.

• 8 to criticize someone or something strongly:

  • Her latest film has been hammered by the critics.

• 9 a tool with a heavy metal top attached to a straight handle, used for hitting an object such as a nail into a substance that holds it firmly in place

• 10 to hit something repeatedly with, or as if with, a hammer:

  • [ T ] I hammered the nail into the wall.

  • [ I always + adv/prep ] Martin Luther King, Jr., hammered at the theme that the civil rights movement must avoid violence.

  • [ I always + adv/prep ] His attorneys hammered away at the idea that the police department was incompetent.

• 11 to reduce the value or amount of something:

  • Concern over the economic crisis continues to hammer the country's stock market and currency, with both falling by 6%.

  • be/get hammered (by sth) Public transport users will be hammered by a 15 percent reduction in service set to go into effect June 17.

• 12 to sell a large number of shares in the belief that prices are higher than they should be

• 13 to make certain that something is understood by expressing it clearly and forcefully:

  • The severity of the slump in the housing market has been hammered home by figures released recently by the banks.

  • hammer home a message/point It is hoped that the latest advertising campaign will hammer home the message about the dangers of alcohol.

• 14 to be sold at an auction to the person who offers the most money:

  • Auctioneers estimate the collection could fetch up to £50,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.