Word.ws English Dictionary

hammer and anvil

hammer and anvil noun: a tactic involving the use of two primary forces, one to pin down an enemy and the other to encircle him.

Noun

hammer and anvil (uncountable)

  1. A tactic involving the use of two primary forces, one to pin down an enemy and the other to encircle him.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) A two-pronged method that is commonly deployed, or the two mechanisms used to carry it out.
    • Coercion and intimidation are the hammer and anvil of experienced police officers.

Questions about hammer and anvil

What does hammer and anvil mean?
Hammer and anvil means a tactic involving the use of two primary forces, one to pin down an enemy and the other to encircle him.
What part of speech is hammer and anvil?
Hammer and anvil is a noun.

Words near hammer and anvil in the dictionary

  1. Hammell
  2. Hammells
  3. Hammen
  4. Hammens
  5. hammer
  6. hammer and anvil
  7. hammer and sickle
  8. hammer and tongs
  9. hammer away
  10. hammer beam
  11. hammer beam roof

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hammer and anvil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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