as in mallets
a large, heavy hammer with a long handle
broke up the concrete using a sledgehammer
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Recent Examples of sledgehammers
Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
Other times, the group used sledgehammers to smash cases of jewelry or other valuables in consignment stores.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
Three years later, thieves, armed with sledgehammers, stole it in an audacious five-minute heist from Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill’s historic birthplace in the English countryside.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 31 Oct. 2025
Other times, the group used sledgehammers to smash cases of jewelry or other valuables in consignment stores.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sledgehammers
Noun
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Dozens of agents swarmed the area along with a military vehicle, Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, told USA TODAY, saying agents used batons and mace on demonstrators.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
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Today his agents used batons and pepper spray on street vendors and bystanders on Canal Street.—
Deputy News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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To help your plants establish, make sure to get potted raspberries in the ground at least 4 to 6 weeks before frost is expected, or choose bare root canes, which are dormant and can be planted even later in the season, as long as the ground isn't frozen.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Nov. 2025
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Avoid long or sharp swords, sticks or canes to prevent injury if a child trips and falls.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Alex breaks free and, in a panic, repeatedly stabs Evelyn with the syringe.—
Allison DeGrushe,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Sep. 2025
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Spike takes one of Kelson's tranquilizer darts filled with morphine and stabs Samson in the arm with it.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The wind whips across the peak, marked as per usual around here with a pile of stones and colorful prayer flags tied to the top like sails on the mast of a ship.—
Joe Baur,
Outside,
31 Oct. 2025
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In the video, Campos whips her long hair in disbelief.—
Christina Noriega,
Refinery29,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The results come as Merck slashes $3 billion in costs by the end of 2027, and prepares to offset revenue losses from the upcoming patent expiration of Keytruda in 2028.—
Annika Kim Constantino,
CNBC,
30 Oct. 2025
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Mogollon Monster The Mogollon Monster is Arizona's Bigfoot, a legendary creature said to inhabit the Mogollon Rim, a rugged and densely forested area that slashes across the state.—
Tiffany Acosta,
AZCentral.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Internal resistance from the membrane’s structure saps additional efficiency.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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Tariffs are taxes on production, government spending is a tax on progress, deportation saps workforce productivity, and the weak dollar (see the gold price) is a tax on investment.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The near-tonal looks have been a successful recipe for the 204L thus far, although this particular pair switches things up slightly with its two-tone pink look.—
Riley Jones,
Footwear News,
31 Oct. 2025
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Her connection to Grace shows the universality of issues among women, and switches the often fraught relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law on its head.—
Billie Melissa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Public safety officials have already conducted several water rescues as the storm lashes the East Coast with coastal flooding, strong winds, and heavy rain.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
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While Harris Reed had more exaggerated bottom lashes and more clustered to the outer wing, lashes at Dreaming Eli were more centered and top-heavy, leaving the bottom lashes natural.—
Essence,
Essence,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammers. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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