ˈhæmə(r)
ˈhæmərtool
1 [countable] a tool with a handle and a heavy metal head, used for breaking things or hitting nails: (figurative) The decision is a hammer blow for the steel industry.a gentle tap with a hammerHe struck her on the head with a hammer. see also sledgehammer2 [countable] a tool with a handle and a wooden head, used by a person in charge of an auction (= a sale at which things are sold to the person who offers the most money) in order to get people's attention when something is just being soldto come/go under the hammer (= to be sold at auction )Forty modern Russian paintings went under the hammer at Christie's today.in piano
3 [countable] a small wooden part inside a piano, that hits the strings to produce a soundin gun
4 [countable] a part inside a gun that makes the gun firesport
5 [countable] a metal ball attached to a wire, thrown as a sport6 the hammer [singular] the event or sport of throwing the hammerIdioms
hammer and tongs
if two people are at it hammer and tongs or go at it hammer and tongs, they argue or fight with a lot of energy and noise
We could hear the neighbours going at it hammer and tongs.