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
Stocks fell sharply early in Thursday's session, but steadily clawed their way back as investors appeared to take heart from news reports that Iran and Oman are hammering out a plan to oversee traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
—
Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
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
Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammering out
Verb
-
Other developers are forging ahead.—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Donny Osmond After rising to fame with The Osmonds, Donny paved his own solo career, while also collaborating on several hits with his sister Marie, who had begun forging her way as a country artist.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In 2022, multiple outlets reported that Disney was developing a third Princess Diaries movie, and filmmaker Adele Lim (Joy Ride) was brought on to direct the project in October 2024.—
Daniel S. Levine,
PEOPLE,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Four startups are developing and launching commercial space stations in prime locations like the planet’s orbit, the moon and maybe even Mars.—
Devika Rao,
TheWeek,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The pair are working up a slate of podcasts based around key moments in contemporary American history.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Hope is getting dirty, working up a sweat and seeing action.—
Sierra Lopez,
Mercury News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Altman pitched the conversion as critical to securing the vast amount of funding OpenAI needs to fulfill its mission of creating artificial general intelligence — or AGI — that will benefit humanity.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
In 2015, Musk, Altman, Greg Brockman, and a handful of others cofounded OpenAI as a nonprofit with the mission of creating AI for the benefit of humanity.—
Tom Dotan,
Vanity Fair,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This usually only occurs in small amounts and can be replenished after working out.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Bailey has a wide-eyed clueless cuteness that lends to her character’s well-meaning naiveté — even her missteps have a way of working out.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hammering out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammering%20out. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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