as in violent
marked by bursts of destructive force or intense activity
the scuffle escalated into a hammer-and-tongs fight
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in sharply
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hammer-and-tongs
Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 16 July 2024
The action on Nevarro is crisp and well-presented, highlighted by the Armorer taking out the sniper’s nest singlehandedly with only her hammer and tongs as weapons.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2023
The two conservative groups that brought the case were targeted by Harris in 2012-13, right around the time the IRS was going hammer and tongs after Tea Party groups.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 1 July 2021
Two teams who seem destined to slug it out in the lower reaches of the table this season going hammer and tongs at each other never makes for a good watch.
—SI.com, 18 Sep. 2019
With two moderate Pyrenean climbs, Thursday’s Stage 12 from Toulouse, where cassoulet and rugby are both big, wasn’t tough enough for Thomas and his rivals to go at each other hammer and tongs.
—Washington Post, 18 July 2019
The way to stand out from the others is to go hammer and tongs for the opponents’ jugulars, or to try to sound more extreme than the others.
—Jim Jones, idahostatesman, 18 May 2018
Adverb
In 1971, authors Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal went at it hammer and tongs live on late-night TV in a showdown that allegedly spilled over into violence.
—Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 16 July 2024
The action on Nevarro is crisp and well-presented, highlighted by the Armorer taking out the sniper’s nest singlehandedly with only her hammer and tongs as weapons.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2023
The two conservative groups that brought the case were targeted by Harris in 2012-13, right around the time the IRS was going hammer and tongs after Tea Party groups.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 1 July 2021
Two teams who seem destined to slug it out in the lower reaches of the table this season going hammer and tongs at each other never makes for a good watch.
—SI.com, 18 Sep. 2019
With two moderate Pyrenean climbs, Thursday’s Stage 12 from Toulouse, where cassoulet and rugby are both big, wasn’t tough enough for Thomas and his rivals to go at each other hammer and tongs.
—Washington Post, 18 July 2019
The way to stand out from the others is to go hammer and tongs for the opponents’ jugulars, or to try to sound more extreme than the others.
—Jim Jones, idahostatesman, 18 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammer-and-tongs
Adjective
-
Safavi said the blackout coincided with violent confrontations in several regions.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Parallel societies in certain urban areas and rising violent crime statistics linked to some migrant cohorts in countries such as Sweden and Germany led to the dramatic rise of populist and patriotic parties across the continent, from France to Italy to the Netherlands.—
Daniel Ross Goodman,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Over the past few decades, wealth and political power have concentrated sharply at the top, with the political giving of the 100 richest Americans surging more than 100-fold since 2000 and far outpacing the rising cost of campaigns.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
15 Jan. 2026
-
Democrats have sharply criticized ICE.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Public reaction to his fraudulence was ferocious.—
David Treuer,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Maye did make his first ever NFL start last season against Houston, which has become known for having one of the most ferocious defenses in the league.—
Matt Schooley,
CBS News,
12 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
After an employee declined, he is shown on video violently pushing a cash register onto the floor and knocking other items off a counter.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Iran's autocratic regime has quashed several previous waves of unrest, violently, and the source in Tehran told CBS News there was significant fear among many people that the current protests would draw a similar draconian crackdown.—
Tucker Reals,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Competition remains fierce in the Charlotte region to grab a piece of the lucrative grocery market share.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Jan. 2026
-
But long before the fire destroyed a broad section of the San Gabriel Valley community, a small but fierce army of people devoted themselves to others who were without a home.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
Americans argued fiercely about whether to intervene abroad, but largely shared the same moral vocabulary.—
Philip Martin,
Washington Post,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Coleman will play Cheyenne Barnes, a fiercely confident hairstylist whose bold sexuality and razor-sharp wit command attention, masking the emotional scars she’s carried for years.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
But as far back as 2024, signs began appearing that the furious pace of construction and the upward spiral of rents wouldn’t continue.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
13 Jan. 2026
-
As furious protests enter their third week and bring Iran to the precipice of change, the country’s theocratic government is trying to survive by harshly cracking down on the widening demonstrations.—
Mitchell McCluskey,
CNN Money,
12 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an organization that frequently advocates for free speech on college campuses, has vehemently denounced the school’s decision to alter Peterson’s syllabus, claiming the university’s decision violates the First Amendment.—
Samuel O'Neal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Uhlfelder vehemently disagreed, writing back that Kitchen and Mattox had been listed on all the court paperwork.—
Dan Sullivan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hammer-and-tongs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammer-and-tongs. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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