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

The planet with the cool guy who hit the anvil, Ferrix was last seen rising up in rebellion at Maarva’s funeral, and Cassian & Co. had to flee. —James Grebey, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2025

In the clip, Perry is the ultimate pin-up girl, taking on a construction site before she’s hit by an anvil. —Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 11 July 2024

Meanwhile, OpenAI, buying its first Super Bowl spot, picked up a bigger anvil, putting AI in the context of the entirety of human history. —Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Ancient Tools Show Our Ancestors Ate a Varied Diet For the study, scientists examined maces and anvils made from basalt, a type of rock formed from rapidly cooling lava at the Earth’s surface, that ancient humans used to crack and crush plant foods. —Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 13 Jan. 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