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

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

Two categories of blade action are found: anvil and bypass. —Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Jan. 2025

The artifacts show signs of various shaping techniques, including one that likely involved placing the ivory on a rock anvil and using another rock to chip away flakes. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2025

It is heated by a wood-burning stove and full of all manner of oddities: an old basketball net, welding helmets, a host of electrical cords, coasters, an impressive anvil in the middle of the room. —Emilien Hofman (tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 20 Mar. 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