hammer out

Verb

hammer out (third-person singular simple present hammers out, present participle hammering out, simple past and past participle hammered out)

1. (transitive) To flatten and shape (metal) by hammering.
   • A smith hammers out iron on an anvil.
   • [Copper] is pretty ductile, bearing to be rolled or hammered out to a very thin plate, and also to be drawn out to a fine wire.1794, John Aikin, “On Metals”, in Evenings at Home, volume 4
2. (transitive) To create (something) by hammering metal; to repair (something made of metal that has become bent or dented) by hammering.
   • I watched a tinsmith hammer out a funnel.
   • The fender was so badly damaged that it couldn’t be hammered out.
3. (transitive) To remove (something tightly in place) by hammering.
   • The bolt wouldn’t budge so she tried hammering it out.
   • ‘Well, you might hammer out these knots and use the holes for securing the scholars’ ink-wells […]’1958, Robert Graves, “A Toast to Ava Gardner”, in Collected Short Stories, published 1965, page 261
4. (transitive) To produce (a sound or signal) by hammering.
   • The kids are forever hammering out “Heart and Soul” on the piano.
   • At the quarter [hour], [the bell] went off into a condition of deadly lively importunity, urging the populace in a voluble manner to Come to church, Come to church, Come to church! At the ten minutes, it became aware that the congregation would be scanty, and slowly hammered out in low spirits...1857, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in Little Dorrit, volume 1, page 22
5. (transitive) To type (something) on a keyboard.
   • Mrs. F. sitting at the desk, her pretty head bent over the typewriter, demurely hammering out the most hair-raising things that a man might do to a woman, or vice versa1954, Arthur Koestler, chapter 26, in The Invisible Writing, page 284
6. (figuratively, transitive) To create or develop (an idea, plan, piece of writing, etc.) with effort.
   • It took me all night to hammer out the first draft of my essay.
   • I haue beene studying how I may compare / This prison where I liue, vnto the world: / And forbecause the world is populous, / And here is not a creature but my selfe, / I cannot do it: yet Ile hammer it out,1595, William Shakespeare, “Act V, Scene 5”, in Richard II, published 1597
7. (figuratively, transitive) To come to (a difficult agreement or settlement) after much arguing and conflict.
   • Two years after the flood, my lawyer managed to hammer out a settlement with my insurance company over the damages.
   • In New York City, property owners seeking to rebound from the storm will have to feel their way through a wilderness of new flood maps, revamped building codes and land-use ordinances, along with a host of other measures addressing the specific needs of storm-battered communities — all of which...2012 December 21, David M. Halbfinger, Charles V. Bagli, Sarah Maslin Nir, “On Ravaged Coastline, It’s Rebuild Deliberately vs. Rebuild Now”, in New York Times