hammer out

verb

hammered out; hammering out; hammers out

transitive verb

: to produce or bring about as if by repeated blows

hammered out an agreement

Synonyms of hammer out

• forge
• develop
• carve (out)
• grind (out)
• create
• bring forth
• thrash (out)
• craft

Examples of hammer out in a Sentence

the city council hammered out new commercial development regulations with input from residents, business owners, and environmental activists

Recent Examples on the Web

The parties have been meeting around the clock at a midtown hotel in New York, with negotiations stretching into the late morning hours to hammer out a deal, according to a person familiar with the process, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. —Jessica Golden, CNBC, 12 Mar. 2026

Denver reached out to Trautman on Sunday afternoon and an agreement got hammered out in a matter of hours. —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2026

And that’s just a small part of multiple wide-ranging transportation packages that will have to be hammered out between the chambers with just over a week remaining in the regular session. —Jim Turner, Sun Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026

Barack Obama, along with the Russians, Chinese and Europeans, hammered out the JCPOA, which kept any nuclear program in a bottle for years to come. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1632, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hammer out

• roundabout
• runabout
• sauerkraut
• thereabout
• turnabout
• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout

Kids Definition

hammer out

verb

: to produce or bring about by persistent effort

hammered out an agreement