# hammer

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhæm.ə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #5,501

## Definitions
1. A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
2. The act of using a hammer to hit something.
3. The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.
4. In a piano or dulcimer, a piece of wood covered in felt that strikes the string.
5. A device made of a heavy steel ball attached to a length of wire, and used for throwing.
6. The last stone in an end.
7. A frisbee throw in which the disc is held upside-down with a forehand grip and thrown forwards above the head.
8. Part of a clock that strikes upon a bell to indicate the hour.
9. One who, or that which, smites or shatters.
10. Ellipsis of hammer headline.
11. The accelerator pedal.
12. A moving part of a firearm that strikes the firing pin to discharge a gun.
13. A handgun.

## Etymology
From Middle English hamer, from Old English hamor, from Proto-West Germanic *hamar, from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (“tool with a stone head”) (compare West Frisian hammer, Low German Hamer, Dutch hamer, German Hammer, Danish hammer, Swedish hammare). This is traditionally ascribed to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱmoros, from *h₂éḱmō (“stone”), but see *hamaraz for further discussion.
(declare a defaulter on the stock exchange): Originally signalled by knocking with a wooden mallet.

## Easily confused with
- **homer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-homer)
- **hater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hater)
- **Homme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-homme)
- **hammy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hammy)
- **harder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-harder)
- **harper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-harper)
- **harmed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-harmed)
- **hamper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hamper)
- **hanger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hanger)
- **Hauser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hauser)
- **hander** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hander)
- **hawker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hawker)
- **Humber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-humber)
- **hatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hatter)
- **hummer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hummer)
- **hummel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hummel)
- **hamster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hamster)
- **Himmler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-himmler)
- **hammered** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hammer-vs-hammered)
- **Hamm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hamm-vs-hammer)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ahmmer`, `hamemr`, `hammerr`, `hammre`, `hhammer`, `hmamer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hammer