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
Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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The plaintiffs later accused the department of violating the order by hitting journalists with batons and arresting them during an August protest.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Reuters reported that police used water cannons, batons, rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Multiple video cameras captured the dynamic choreo on giant screens behind the stage as McRae and her entourage danced with canes, strutted down a catwalk, seductively gyrated on moving platforms, and even pole-danced.—
Audrey Gibbs,
Nashville Tennessean,
12 Sep. 2025
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The Cracker Barrel in Belleville still has lots of space between the tables, which is good, because a statistically improbable number of customers the other morning were using canes or walkers.—
Neal Rubin,
Freep.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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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
-
After a dramatic confrontation among all parties, Jonah stabs Henry in the chest and shoots him point-blank in the head.—
Claire Franken,
TVLine,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
What are Asian lady beetles Harmonia axyridis, also known as the Asian lady beetle, is a relatively new arrival to this country.—
Jordan Green,
Nashville Tennessean,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Each night the band whips the crowd into a frenzy with their cool, Western romantic harmonies and dance-hall sing-alongs.—
Jonathan Terrell,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
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So the magnetic field has to stay synchronized with the increasing mass of the particle, ramping up in strength as the particle whips around.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Consistency builds trust and slashes audit drag.—
Jagbir Kaur,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Cherry picks up a knife and slashes Laura’s tires on the way out, for good measure.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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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
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Cast and crew are emotionally invested in the urgency of the material, but the bland competency of the whole affair saps it of power.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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By replacing silicon with a magnetic semiconductor, the team created a device that not only switches current but can also store information.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Sep. 2025
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After reading some of the nonsensical speech, Jordan switches to the female form and goes off-script to reveal that Andre’s dead.—
Olivia Singh,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sledgehammers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sledgehammers. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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