claw·ham·mer
ˈklȯ-ˌha-mər 
: of, relating to, or being a style of banjo playing using the thumb and one or more fingers picking or strumming in a downward direction
1
: a hammer with one end of the head forked for pulling out nails
2
: tailcoat
Examples of clawhammer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Emily Blackwood, People.com, 7 June 2025
All of them only had tusks in the lower jaw, a pair of backward-pointing spikes like the back of a claw hammer.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2025
In 2018, during a dry spell, a rancher in Mendocino County used a claw hammer to drive a concrete stake into the ground.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2025
For example, Fisk’s ball-peen hammer on Echo is different from his claw hammer on the former Netflix show.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for clawhammer
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Noun
Months later, police arrested Hoffman, a store clerk, and he was found guilty of beating the young father-to-be with a claw hammer and shooting him.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 7 June 2025
All of them only had tusks in the lower jaw, a pair of backward-pointing spikes like the back of a claw hammer.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Apr. 2025
In 2018, during a dry spell, a rancher in Mendocino County used a claw hammer to drive a concrete stake into the ground.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2025
For example, Fisk’s ball-peen hammer on Echo is different from his claw hammer on the former Netflix show.
—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for clawhammer
Cite this Entry
“Clawhammer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clawhammer. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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