sledgehammer
Syllables: sledge·ham·merUK/ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə//ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ/
sledgehammer noun: a hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.
Noun
sledgehammer (plural sledgehammers)
- A hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.
- These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long.1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC
- They take sledgehammers to statues with an uncommon gusto – destroying in seconds what may have survived centuries.2015 February 26, Ben Wedeman, Dana Ford, “Video shows ISIS militants destroying antiquities in Iraq”, in CNN, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2023
Verb
sledgehammer (third-person singular simple present sledgehammers, present participle sledgehammering, simple past and past participle sledgehammered)
- To strike (something) with a sledgehammer.
- Some lawmakers were so incensed that they even invited the news media to watch the sledgehammering of the Japanese company's products on the Capitol's steps.1989 December 10, Clyde H. Farnsworth, “Japan's Loud Voice in Washington”, in The New York Times
- She’s trying to piece together shards of precious pottery gleefully sledgehammered by a delegation led by the Taliban’s minister of culture, who deemed the world’s greatest collection of Central Asian artifacts un-Islamic.2009 February 22, Jane And Michael Stern, “Nirvana Express”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022
Adjective
sledgehammer (comparative more sledgehammer, superlative most sledgehammer)
- Completely lacking grace and dexterity.
- Promising new treatments avoid the sledgehammer approach of traditional chemotherapy in two key ways."2015 October 26, Michael Boyer, “Brave new world of cancer treatment revealed”, in The University of Sydney, archived from the original on 02 Apr 2023
sledgehammer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Kannada
sledgehammer in Hindi
- kind of hammer
- लोहार का हथौड़ा lohār kā hathauṛā
sledgehammer in Tamil
- சம்மட்டி
sledgehammer in Urdu
- kind of hammer
- مارْتَول mārtaul
sledgehammer in Kannada
- sledgehammer
- ಕಂಮಠ kammaṭha
More languagesFewer languages
- sledgehammer in Pashto
- سټک saṭak, څټک śaṭak
- sledgehammer in Arabic
- مِرْزَبَّة mirzabba, إِرْزَبَّة ʔirzabba
- sledgehammer in Malay
- tukul besi
- sledgehammer in Indonesian
- palu godam, godam
- sledgehammer in Persian
- پتک potk
- sledgehammer in Thai
- ค้อนปอนด์ kɔ́ɔn-bpɔɔn
- sledgehammer in Vietnamese
- búa tạ
- sledgehammer in Myanmar
- တူမ tuma.
Examples of sledgehammer in a sentence
- Hit that wedge a good lick with the sledgehammer.
- Sammy knew Johnny was as tough as teak and he carried a punch like a sledgehammer blow.
- In our view the Public Order Bill is an attempt by the Government to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Forms of sledgehammer
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sledgehammers |
| alternative form | sledge-hammer |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sledgehammers |
| present participle | sledgehammering |
| past participle | sledgehammered |
| past | sledgehammered |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more sledgehammer |
| superlative | most sledgehammer |
Origin of sledgehammer
Compound of sledge + hammer.
Words formed from sledgehammer
Phrases with sledgehammer
Questions about sledgehammer
- What does sledgehammer mean?
- Sledgehammer means a hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.
- What is sledgehammer in Hindi?
- Sledgehammer in Hindi is लोहार का हथौड़ा (lohār kā hathauṛā). See Sledgehammer meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sledgehammer?
- Sledgehammer can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce sledgehammer?
- Sledgehammer is pronounced /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sledgehammer?
- The plural of sledgehammer is sledgehammers.
Words near sledgehammer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sledgehammer (page history and authors); sledgehammer (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಕಂಮಠ (Kannada) (page history and authors); سټک (Pashto) (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: en-us-sledgehammer.ogg.
Cite this entry: “sledgehammer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sledgehammer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.