jackhammer
/ˈd͡ʒækˌhæmɚ/
jackhammer noun: a portable percussive power tool that combines a hammer and chisel used to drill or break hard matter, for instance rock or concrete.
Noun
jackhammer (plural jackhammers)
- A portable percussive power tool that combines a hammer and chisel used to drill or break hard matter, for instance rock or concrete.
- Synonyms:
- pneumatic drill
- Something that is very strong but also very rigid.
- A new skiercross pro tour is on the docket, as well as freeskiing. Just like racing, both require strong but supple legs rather than jackhammer quads.2006 September, Skiing
Verb
jackhammer (third-person singular simple present jackhammers, present participle jackhammering, simple past and past participle jackhammered)
- To use a jackhammer.
- Early the next day a crew came to fix the street. Vernon was out there at once, watching them jackhammer and haul the asphalt […]1985, Don DeLillo, chapter 33, in White Noise, Penguin, published 1986, page 254
- To break (something) using a jackhammer.
- The foundations for the barrier had been jackhammered away; the piles of broken concrete were just left alongside the road.1991, Peter Laufer, chapter 9, in Iron Curtain Rising, San Francisco: Mercury House, page 171
- In the morning, the street is being jackhammered up.2002, Emily Schultz, “Foam”, in Black Coffee Night, Toronto: Insomniac Press, page 12
- To form (something) using a jackhammer.
- Small ledges had been jackhammered at each end of the crater and timbers bolted into them, forming abutments of the bridge that was to come.1944, Ernie Pyle, chapter 6, in Brave Men, New York: Henry Holt, page 69
- Richmond already spent tax money on an engineering department whose employees parked their trucks in the street, jackhammered holes in the pavement, and repaired storm sewers […]1988, Scott C. Davis, chapter 3, in The World of Patience Gromes: Making and Unmaking a Black Community, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, page 49
- To move like a jackhammer.
- […] a bolt of lightning jackhammered across the sky, interrupting his dream.1977, Betsy Haynes, chapter 2, in The Ghost of the Gravestone Hearth, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, page 20
- When he jackhammered into her, she clutched the bedspread and braced herself for the onslaught.2003, Beverly Barton, chapter 16, in Grace under Fire, New York: Silhouette, pages 218–219
- To beat hard, to pound. (of the heart or pulse)
- […] he lay rigid, his heart jackhammering, telling himself that there was nothing out there, nothing […]1995, Margaret Wild, chapter 2, in Beast, New York: Scholastic, page 7
- The paranoia came on pretty damn strong for this early in the morning, his high blood pressure—160 over 90 at twenty-two—jackhammering in his wrists, his thoughts caterwauling beneath the moment.2002, Tom Piccirilli, chapter 1, in The Night Class, New York: Leisure Books, page 7
- To move (something) like a jackhammer.
- He […] drew his knees toward his chest as far as the cramped space would allow, and jackhammered his feet into the forward wall of the trunk, which was formed by the backseat of the car.1999, Dean Koontz, chapter 68, in False Memory, New York: Bantam, published 2000, page 611
- Then, before the lumberjack had a chance to react, Dad grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and jackhammered his head into the bar.2006, Danielle Trussoni, chapter 4, in Falling through the Earth, New York: Henry Holt, page 44
- To strike (something) repeatedly with force, to pound.
- Guam-based B-52 bombers, newly modified to haul 60,000 lbs. of bombs each, jackhammered a Viet Cong radio and communications center 35 miles northeast of Saigon.1966 April 15, “Rolling Thunder”, in Time
- He didn’t make love to her; he jackhammered her.1985, Andrew Coburn, chapter 20, in Sweetheart, London: Secker & Warburg, page 197
jackhammer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu
jackhammer in Hindi
- portable percussive drill device
- जैकहैमर jaikhaimar
jackhammer in Tamil
- portable percussive drill device
- ஜாக்ஹாம்மர் jākhāmmar
jackhammer in Marathi
- portable percussive drill device
- खडक इ.ना भोके पाडण्याचे हत्यार khaḍak i.nā bhoke pāḍaṇyāce hatyār
jackhammer in Telugu
- portable percussive drill device
- జాక్హామర్ jākhāmar
More languagesFewer languages
- jackhammer in Kannada
- ಜಾಕ್ಹಾಮರ್ jākhāmar
- jackhammer in Arabic
- آلَات ثَقْب الصُخُور ʔālāt ṯaqb aṣ-ṣuḵūr
- jackhammer in Malay
- gerudi tukul
- jackhammer in Indonesian
- palu godam
- jackhammer in Persian
- مته دستی مخصوص سوراخ کردن سنگ
- jackhammer in Vietnamese
- cái búa khoan
Examples of jackhammer in a sentence
- He was standing at a work table he’d jackhammered from a boulder, placidly sculpting a rose on its work surface.2009, Kage Baker, chapter 27, in The Empress of Mars, New York: Tom Doherty Associates, page 258:
- His left knee jackhammered under the desk, his right hand patted a steady bongo beat on the top.2010, Dennis Lehane, chapter 7, in Moonlight Mile, New York: William Morrow, page 69:
- […] the thought jackhammered his heart and mind.1997, Richard Flanagan, chapter 78, in The Sound of One Hand Clapping, New York: Grove, published 2014:
Synonyms of jackhammer
Forms of jackhammer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | jackhammers |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | jackhammers |
| present participle | jackhammering |
| past participle | jackhammered |
| past | jackhammered |
Origin of jackhammer
From jack + hammer.
Questions about jackhammer
- What does jackhammer mean?
- Jackhammer means a portable percussive power tool that combines a hammer and chisel used to drill or break hard matter, for instance rock or concrete.
- What is jackhammer in Hindi?
- Jackhammer in Hindi is जैकहैमर (jaikhaimar). See Jackhammer meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use jackhammer in a sentence?
- He was standing at a work table he’d jackhammered from a boulder, placidly sculpting a rose on its work surface.
- What part of speech is jackhammer?
- Jackhammer can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce jackhammer?
- Jackhammer is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒækˌhæmɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of jackhammer?
- The plural of jackhammer is jackhammers.
Words near jackhammer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jackhammer (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-jackhammer.wav.
Cite this entry: “jackhammer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jackhammer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.