anvil

noun

an·​vil ˈan-vəl 

1

: a heavy usually steel-faced iron block on which metal is shaped (as by hand hammering)

2

: incus

3

: the anvil–shaped top of a cumulonimbus

Illustration of anvil

• anvil 1

Examples of anvil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Supercells are dangerous storms characterized by rotating updrafts that resemble tall storm clouds with anvils or elongated clouds at their tops. —Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2025

The idea of a sophomore slump hangs over second-year starters like a cartoon anvil. —Troy Renck, Denver Post, 24 May 2025

Sherman and Hull’s book drops exposition this way, one Acme anvil after another, while still managing to leave you muddled about salient plot and character points. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 July 2024

As fun as last season was, the good vibes from it felt like an anvil around this team’s neck, not a springboard to bigger and better things. —Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 15 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English anfeld, anefelt, anvelt, anvyll, going back to Old English anfealt and anefilt, anelfilte, going back to Germanic *ana-falta- and *ana-feltja- (whence also, from the first, Old High German anafalz "anvil" and from the second, Middle Dutch aenvilte, anevilte), from *ana- "on" and *-falta-, *-feltja-, nominal derivatives from *faltan-, taken to mean "to strike, beat" — more at felt entry 1

Note: The word anvil was originally a deverbal compound meaning in effect "the thing on which striking is done." Already in Old English the makeup of the compound would have been less than transparent, as a verb corresponding to the deverbal second element -fealt/-filt(e) does not appear to have existed (or at least is not attested). Such a verb does exist in Old High German, though only in extended and/or specialized senses (see the note at felt entry 1). Parallel to *ana-falta-/*ana-feltja- were other Germanic compounds meaning "anvil": *ana-bauta- (whence Middle Low German anebōt, ambōt, Old High German anabōz, present-day German Amboß), from *bautan- "to strike, beat" (see beat entry 1); and *ana-baltja- (whence Middle Low German ānebelte, Middle Dutch aenbelt, Dutch aanbeeld, Old High German anabelzi) and *ana-bulta- (whence Middle Low German ānebolt, ambolt, Old High German anabolz), from the verbal base behind Old English bolt "bolt, arrow," Old High German bolz "bolt, hot iron" (see bolt entry 1). It has been suggested that all the Germanic compounds are calques on Latin incūd-. incūs "anvil," formed from in- in- entry 2 + cūdere "to beat, strike, hammer." Alternatively, the formation of such nouns may have been a European areal feature; compare Russian nakovál'nja "anvil," from na- "on" and a derivative of the verb kovát' "to hammer, forge," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian nâkōvanj.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

anvil

noun

an·​vil ˈan-vəl 

1

: a heavy iron block on which metal is shaped (as by hammering)

2

: the middle bone of the chain of three small bones in the ear of a mammal

called also incus

Medical Definition

anvil

noun

an·​vil ˈan-vəl 

: incus