as in grinding (out)
to produce or bring about especially by long or repeated effort
the city council hammered out new commercial development regulations with input from residents, business owners, and environmental activists
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Recent Examples of hammering out
Aponte’s predecessor Kevin Abrams was the Giants‘ salary cap lead in previous years, most memorably hammering out the early versions of Daniel Jones’ contract extension in the lobby of the JW Marriott here in March 2023.
—
Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026
Artificial intelligence, real money When actors and studios arrived at the bargaining table this week to start hammering out the next SAG-AFTRA contract, a key figure in the conversation was not in the room.
—Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 13 Feb. 2026
The mayor has faced challenges with hammering out a compromise between the Black and Latino caucuses for the influential role; now Lawson, who is white, could be poised to clinch the spot.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
The statement said that Patagonia and Pattie Gonia—who uses female pronouns—spent several years hammering out an agreement over the activist’s use of the brand’s name.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 23 Jan. 2026
Following Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to the Kremlin in early December, a flurry of high-level diplomacy involving Zelensky and European leaders ensued, with much talk about hammering out the finer points of a potential agreement.
—Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025
Lawmakers have gone home for the holidays without hammering out a resolution to address the expiring ObamaCare subsidies as tensions flare amid health care negotiations.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 22 Dec. 2025
Similarly, structured equity entails hammering out a capital solution specific to each company; there is no formulaic approach.
—Mike Terwilliger, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
But behind the scenes, the utility was hammering out a deal with the Denver Broncos to sell 25 acres of its 36-acre campus.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 17 Sep. 2025
Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026
Artificial intelligence, real money When actors and studios arrived at the bargaining table this week to start hammering out the next SAG-AFTRA contract, a key figure in the conversation was not in the room.
—Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 13 Feb. 2026
The mayor has faced challenges with hammering out a compromise between the Black and Latino caucuses for the influential role; now Lawson, who is white, could be poised to clinch the spot.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2026
The statement said that Patagonia and Pattie Gonia—who uses female pronouns—spent several years hammering out an agreement over the activist’s use of the brand’s name.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside, 23 Jan. 2026
Following Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to the Kremlin in early December, a flurry of high-level diplomacy involving Zelensky and European leaders ensued, with much talk about hammering out the finer points of a potential agreement.
—Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025
Lawmakers have gone home for the holidays without hammering out a resolution to address the expiring ObamaCare subsidies as tensions flare amid health care negotiations.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 22 Dec. 2025
Similarly, structured equity entails hammering out a capital solution specific to each company; there is no formulaic approach.
—Mike Terwilliger, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2025
But behind the scenes, the utility was hammering out a deal with the Denver Broncos to sell 25 acres of its 36-acre campus.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammering out
Verb
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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
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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
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Meta is also reportedly in talks to use Google’s TPUs, and Broadcom assists the social media company with developing its own MTIA accelerator.—
Katie Tarasov,
CNBC,
5 Mar. 2026
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Laurels for work UKAEA and CERN have received a ‘Highly Commended’ recognition at The Engineer’s Collaborate to Innovate (C2I) Awards for jointly developing a compact autonomous robot designed to inspect the LHC.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Webtoon Productions has been working up titles from both platforms for film and TV, per our recent feature on the development and production unit, which is run by industry vet David Madden.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2026
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Instead of traditionally starting at 100 pounds and working up to 235 pounds, this year’s matches started at 140 pounds.—
Cody Thorn,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The shift risks creating uneven protections, as state offices lack the federal power to threaten schools with funding cuts.—
Collin Binkley,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
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The innovation enables an autonomous drone to record important operational and sensor data directly onto a blockchain during flight, creating a secure and tamper-resistant record of its activities.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Of the figures that Rosi’s camera captures, the one who comes most vividly to life is Titti, an elderly teacher working out of an old antiques shop.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
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The two sides are working out terms related to artificial intelligence, streaming residuals, and health and pension funding — along with more obscure subjects like exclusivity windows for TV series regulars.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hammering out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammering%20out. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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