as in pounding
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1
as in drawing
to shape with a hammer
medieval artisans hammered brass into various bowls and trays, which they then embossed with elaborate designs
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2
as in hitting
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
hammer a nail hammered the ball for a home run
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in licking
to strike repeatedly
tried hammering the door to wake them up the crops were hammered with hail
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in scolding
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
the critics have long been hammering the stage actress for resorting to the same mixed bag of mannerisms over and over
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Recent Examples of hammering
Sarah Min, CNBC, 17 Feb. 2026
At Anitra Coulter Blunt's Cedar Park home, the hammering and sawing is music to this musician's ears.
—Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 15 Feb. 2026
Eric Freeny blocked Smith, Bilodeau grabbed the loose ball and threw an outlet to Dailey for a hammering dunk.
—Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine’s energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026
The brand’s range features cultural designs made using a mix of traditional Chinese techniques, including hammering, carving, hollowing, filigree, embedding, and heat treatment of enamels.
—Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 14 Nov. 2025
The sound of hammering came from outside in the driveway, where some men were building a coffin.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The 4-0 hammering in France has seen Ajax’s chance of elimination before the knockout stage rise to 85 per cent.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
There and at Jebel Misma, the team found stone-hammering tools left behind by the artists in layers of sediment dating back 12,000 years.
—Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
Jared Weiss, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
If these scenes feel a bit didactic, hammering home everything from the shortage of nurses with SANE training to the dozens of regulations SANEs must follow to protect evidence, their lessons serve as a corrective for many of us who’ve absorbed decades’ worth of rape-as-entertainment.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
Hilton has been hammering Bianco over kneeling during Black Lives Matter protests and, more recently, on immigration.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 24 Feb. 2026
From that time onward, meteorologists were hammering on the forecast, increasing snowfall totals, wind speeds and the overall threat level to make sure people knew the seriousness of what was coming in less than 48 hours.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 23 Feb. 2026
Wisconsin has friendly locals, good beer, tons of good turkey habitat, and gobblers hammering from the Mississippi River to the coast of Lake Michigan.
—Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 19 Feb. 2026
Some high-country regulars are hammering the guides for going out in those conditions.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Severe weather continued hammering the Castle Peak area Wednesday.
—Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
The latest bout began after Anthropic PBC released productivity tools for lawyers and financial researchers, hammering the stock price of companies across those industries.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
Noun
Baupost Group’s Seth Klarman picked up Amazon in the fourth quarter, a bet that has yet to work out for the value investor this year as tech stocks take a hammering.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 17 Feb. 2026
At Anitra Coulter Blunt's Cedar Park home, the hammering and sawing is music to this musician's ears.
—Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 15 Feb. 2026
Eric Freeny blocked Smith, Bilodeau grabbed the loose ball and threw an outlet to Dailey for a hammering dunk.
—Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 21 Jan. 2026
Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine’s energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026
The brand’s range features cultural designs made using a mix of traditional Chinese techniques, including hammering, carving, hollowing, filigree, embedding, and heat treatment of enamels.
—Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 14 Nov. 2025
The sound of hammering came from outside in the driveway, where some men were building a coffin.
—Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The 4-0 hammering in France has seen Ajax’s chance of elimination before the knockout stage rise to 85 per cent.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
There and at Jebel Misma, the team found stone-hammering tools left behind by the artists in layers of sediment dating back 12,000 years.
—Martin J. Kernan, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
Sitting by himself in the corner, center Luke Kornet was hammering away on his laptop like a veteran newspaper reporter trying to get a story in on time.
—Jared Weiss, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
If these scenes feel a bit didactic, hammering home everything from the shortage of nurses with SANE training to the dozens of regulations SANEs must follow to protect evidence, their lessons serve as a corrective for many of us who’ve absorbed decades’ worth of rape-as-entertainment.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
Hilton has been hammering Bianco over kneeling during Black Lives Matter protests and, more recently, on immigration.
—Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 24 Feb. 2026
From that time onward, meteorologists were hammering on the forecast, increasing snowfall totals, wind speeds and the overall threat level to make sure people knew the seriousness of what was coming in less than 48 hours.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 23 Feb. 2026
Wisconsin has friendly locals, good beer, tons of good turkey habitat, and gobblers hammering from the Mississippi River to the coast of Lake Michigan.
—Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 19 Feb. 2026
Some high-country regulars are hammering the guides for going out in those conditions.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2026
Severe weather continued hammering the Castle Peak area Wednesday.
—Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
The latest bout began after Anthropic PBC released productivity tools for lawyers and financial researchers, hammering the stock price of companies across those industries.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammering
Noun
-
All around the Tivoli quarries, the air is heavy with the stench of sulfur and the constant pounding, clinking and cracking of giant jackhammers blasting ancient rock into pieces.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Feb. 2026
-
This section of shoreline is lined with cliffs, below which are sea caves, formed over centuries by the relentless pounding of Lake Superior waves.—
Stephanie Pearson,
Outside,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The police truck idled for a moment before reversing down the street, drawing a round of applause from the crowd that had formed on the block.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The firm that handled the ad campaign was connected to the husband of Noem’s former spokesperson, drawing further scrutiny.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Iran has repeatedly denied targeting oil infrastructure and other civilian targets in the war, despite its drone and missile fire hitting those sites.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
-
At the same time, Anderson recruited Burkle as the heavy hitting investor behind a counteroffer to keep the team in Sacramento that ultimately fell through after Burkle pulled out.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The spotless streets are polished nightly by the feet of families licking ice cream.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
10 Mar. 2026
-
On April 30, 2025, the dog was reportedly licking its tail and lethargic.—
Staff Report,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But Saxon said Ye kept him constantly on edge, demanding photo updates of construction work, scolding him for wearing blue instead of the all-black worker uniform Ye preferred, and suddenly adding 24/7 security duties to his workload.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Porter was initially viewed as having a potential edge in the race, but her prospects dimmed after videos emerged in October of the UC Irvine law professor scolding a reporter and swearing at an aide.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The first was at Wolverhampton Wanderers, then the second was in the closing stages of the thrashing of Crystal Palace at Elland Road.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Stevenson played his best game in the Pats’ regular-season finale, a 38-10 thrashing of Miami.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Indiana is forging ahead with a new K-12 school accountability model that will give schools letter grades this year for the first time since 2018.—
Carole Carlson,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Erik Lochtefeld is now forging his return to the big stage, and to his love of running, after having complex open brain surgery at NYU Langone Health.—
Hannah Kliger,
CBS News,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Canadarm was used for spacewalking, several Hubble Space Telescope missions and some impromptu maneuvers such as knocking an ice plug off a frozen shuttle drain line, according to NASA.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Return to New York when Broadway comes knocking.—
Charlie Hobbs,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hammering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammering. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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