battering ram
"battering-ram" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“battering ram” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A heavy object used for battering down walls and gates or a siege engine that includes such an object.
Corpus desk
Index EN-battering-ram · battering ram · English
battering ram · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | battering ram |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “battering ram” in English
Rare enough to double-check
battering ram is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
battering ram doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: The heads of some battering rams were carved in the shape of a ram, an animal renowned for butting with its head. The correct English form is battering ram, spelled B-A-T-T-E-R-I-N-G- -R-A-M.
Definition
- 1A heavy object used for battering down walls and gates or a siege engine that includes such an object.
- 2A modern device, usually in the form of a metal bar with handles, chiefly used by police and firefighters to force open locked doors.
- 3Something which acts as a powerful tool against something.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how battering ram appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And in the edition of their party newspaper released last week, [the Tories] pledged to Manitobans that they would continue their battering ram approach this time around.
That was expected, I suppose, because during the Trump era, the GOP was a battering ram against truth and reality.
Etymology
The heads of some battering rams were carved in the shape of a ram, an animal renowned for butting with its head.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.