hammer n.1
1. (later use US black) the penis; cit. 1719 refers, as a double entendre, to the ‘hammer’ of a stereotypically lecherous tinker.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | ‘Cockolds Kallender’ in Arundel MS I 218: [Her] Anvill bydeth battring still of hammers great and smale. | |
 | Tragedy of Valentinian I iii: aecius: I am too course for Ladies; my embraces [...] Would break their tender bodies. emperor: Never feare it, They are stronger than ye think, they’le hold the hammer. | |
| Pilgrim I i: She is malleable: she’ll endure the hammer, And why not that strong workman that strikes deepest? | |
| Mercurius Fumigosus 22 25 Oct.–1 Nov. 190: Before her Book I’de Knock, I’de see th’ Devil dam her, / Unless I made account to spoile my Stone and Hammer. | |
| ‘Cresadays Lamentation’ in Antidote against Melancholy 91: Venus she was Beautiful, and eke a godess born, / And yet to love poor Vulcan she took it not in scorn; / His Hammer hit so round, and had so sweet a touch, / She liked well the sound, oh it pleased her too much! | |
| ‘Song’ in Pills to Purge Melancholy II 199: Her Husband she said could scarce raise up his Hammer, / His strength and his Tools were worn out long ago. | |
| in Pills to Purge Melancholy III 52: Some bring him Basons, some bring him Bowls, / All Wenches pray him to stop up their holes, / Tink goes the hammer, the Skillet and the Scummer. [Ibid.] IV 195: Her Husband she said could scarce raise up his Hammer, His strength and his Tools were worn out. | |
| in Penkethman’s Jests II 75: Good Lad with your Hammer come hither to Morrow. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Order of the Beggar's Benison and Merryland (1892) 19: The Anvil lasts longer than the Hammer — the only Consolation the Undermost has. | |
| ‘The Tinker’ in Secret Songster 43: He put his hammer in her hand, and she gave it a jerk, / To let the cuckold know that the tinker was at work. | |
| ‘Ten Pound Hammer’ 🎵 I got a ten pound hammer, the women love to hear it sound, / They says, ‘Come on Moses, go and drive it down’. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | ‘Paper Daisies’ in Entrapment (2009) 104: ‘Come down I hammer your board,’the carpenter invited her with a leer [...] ‘You try carpenter’s hammer! You try, you like! Try for size! Come quick!’. | |
| (con. WWII) And Then We Heard The Thunder (1964) 292: Boy, I have gotten so much pussy in my day [...] when I do die they gon say, I died with my hammer in my hand. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 43: His hammer hung down the left side instead of the right. | |
| Drylongso 160: Any cow can take ten times as much hammer as any bull can throw. | |
| (con. 1920–57) Ozark Folksongs and Folklore II 787: Other common names for the male organ are [...] hammer. | |
| Vatican Bloodbath 80: Clarence T. Blackbird dressed as a Cabaret-era Lisa Minneli eagerly sucking on a sailor’s brutally engorged love hammer. |
2. the testicles.
| ‘Darby o’Gallagher’ Luke Caffrey’s Gost 2: No Doctor of skill can cure it so well, / As the two smacking hammers of Darby o’Gallagher. |
3. (also hammer man) a strong puncher.
| Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 93: Hammer (ring) ― when a man hits very hard, chiefly with a favourite hand, his blows are said to ‘fall like those of a sledge-hammer,’ Such boxers are hammering fighters, that do not defend their own vitals, cannot make sure of a blow, and are termed hammerers and hammermen. | |
| Annals of Sporting 1 Jan. 51: He is a hammer-man who hits round and hard. |
4. constr. with the, ideal, perfect, exactly what is wanted, thus phr. that’s the hammer[Stock Exchange imagery].
| Won in a Canter I 10: ‘I flatter myself they [i.e. hunters] are ra-ther the ’ammer’. | |
| (con. WWI) Soldier and Sailor Words 114: Hammer, That’s The: Excellent. A good notion. |
5. a bodyguard, a thug.
| Burlesque 158: He’s gettin’ in bad, an’ there’s plenty o’ hammers out for him. | |
| DSUE (8th edn) 524: [...] late C.19–20. | |
| Homeboy 121: Last night Reverend Bones and another hammer dueled over a carton of milk. |
6. (N.Z. prison) the toughest, most respected inmate; one who has made and carries a weapon.
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Till Human Voices Wake Us 115: They all managed to get weapons [...] Another name for them in the boob was the hammer gang. | |
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 83/2: hammer, the n. 1the toughest, most respected inmate in the prison. |
7. (US black) a woman’s thigh.
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 142: Terms for [...] thighs, hammers, suggest that males appreciate ample legs and thighs on women. |
8. (US) the accelerator; thus put the hammer down or drop the hammer, to accelerate.
| Family Circle Aug. 20: He’s eastbound and he’s got the hammer down. | |
| Time 2 Jan. 36: ‘Modulating,’ (talking) while ‘dropping the hammer’ (accelerating) is moreS dangerous to the driver than to his speech. | |
| Rat on Fire (1982) 88: Put the hammer down and I didn’t let her up until I hit Ludlow. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | White Shoes 143: Les dropped the Jag back into second and put the hammer down. | |
| http://slang.uoregon.edu 🌐 Put the hammer down (Phrase) Source: Biker Group. Meaning: To start going as fast as you can when you are feeling good. Context: Bragging or describing a moment when you started going very fast; usually faster that the other riders. Collected: 10/10/1999. | |
| Swollen Red Sun 32: He waited until Bo was beside his truck and then dropped the hammer. | |
| Razorblade Tears 189: Buddy Lee kept the hammer down. | |
| Boy from County Hell 276: He cut the wheel hard and dropped the hammer. |
9. (Irish) a turn, e.g. take a right-hand hammer.
| Cartoon City 14: ‘Take a right-hand hammer,’ Dez said. ‘Short cut.’. |
10. (US black) a gun, thus knock hammers, to fire weapons.
| Lush Life 10: ‘A whistle?’ Lugo makes a finger gun. ‘You mean a hammer?’ . | |
| ‘Don’t make No Sense’ 🎵 All my boys knock hammers / Now all of your niggas damaged. | |
| ‘Milly Rock’ 🎵 Hammers and dingers galore. | |
| ‘OOOUUU’ 🎵 Like I don't always keep the hammer next to me / Like I ain’t got a hitter to the left of me. |
In compounds
(US) the fast lane.
| Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] I pulled onto Lindbergh, jumped into the hammer lane, and held the accelerator [...] to the floor. |
SE in slang uses
In compounds
(US) the penis.
| Down in the Holler 101: Several witnesses used long tool and hoe-handle when they meant penis. | |
| (con. 1920–57) Ozark Folksongs and Folklore II 787: Other common names for the male organ are [...] hammer-handle. |
see separate entries.
a boxing school.
| Tom And Jerry; Musical Extravaganza 54: Hammer school, boxing school. |
In phrases
see under down adv.2
1. (orig. US) to take decisive action (against).
| Capt. Blackman 14: The guys’ll come splashing down here [...] and they’ll [i.e. ambushers] drop the hammer on them . | |
| Skin Tight 228: It felt good to be the one to drop the hammer for a change. | |
| Another Day in Paradise 178: I still couldn’t drop the hammer on Jewels. | |
| Gun Monkeys 221: He decided to drop the hammer on everybody hard. | |
| Widespread Panic 185: He’s [...] the instigator, the boss pimp and the guy who drops the hammer. |
2. to shoot.
| A-Team 2 (1984) 166: I’m a fugitive, just like yourself, and every now and then I like to drop the hammer on a piece of dirt like you, just to keep in practice. |
3. to humiliate.
| Snitch Jacket 88: If some college cocksucker tried to drop the hammer on me with ‘lagniappe’, I’d fire back with ‘epistemoological.’. |
(US) a phr. used to inquire about someone’s state of well being; the typically facetious answer being: ‘A little to the left and in the dirt’; note extrapolation in cit. 1961.
| ‘Joe Louis the Pride of Harlem’ [comic strip] in Tijuana Bibles (1997) 123: Hello big boy! How’s yo’ old hammer hanging. | |
| McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon (2001) 311: ‘Hello, Pop,’ a young clammer said to the man in an adjoining boat, a sullen old man in wet overalls, ‘how’s your hammer hanging?’. | |
| Ginger Man (1958) 318: And how’s your hammer hanging. Step this way, Danger. | |
| There Must Be a Pony! 242: One guy said, ‘Hey, man – how’s the stem end of your bladder?’ ‘Hanging!’ the other one said. | |
| Reinhart in Love (1963) 263: Fedder! How’s your hammer hanging? | |
| (con. c.1900) King Blood (1989) 61: Hi’ya Gran’pa, Uncle Ike [...] How’s your hammer hangin’? | |
| ‘The Catacombs’ in After the Wake 72: When I walked in, he said to me, ‘How is the hammer hanging?’. | |
| Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 how’s your hammer hangin’? (phrase) Used to inquire as to one’s state of well being. [...] John: How’s your hammer hangin’ Joe? Joe: A little to the left and in the dirt. | |
| (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 438: Let’s jaw first. ‘Hey, Bob, how’s the hammer hangin’?’ ‘Long and strong, Wayne, how about you?’. |
1. to take decisive action.
| Larceny, Inc. [film script] They put the hammer on his parole [HDAS]. |
2. to demand money.
| They Drive by Night 206: It was no use trying to put the hammer on a man like that. |
3. to attack verbally, to slander.
| Friends of Eddie Coyle 86: It’s usually about someone else, [...] somebody that put the hammer on him and he’s looking to get back. | |
| Cogan’s Trade (1975) 72: I’m not puting the hammer on Mike [...] He’s just expensive. | |
| N.Y. Post 11 Aug. 37: Guys like to put the hammer on him [HDAS]. |
4. (also put the hammer to) to pressurize.
| q. in Public Administration 383: If you have someone out there who is about to overthrow the Government [...] you ought to put the hammer on him. | |
| Our Man in Panama 98: Without trying to excuse the unwillingness of General Torrijos to really put the hammer on him, the general conception is that he is reluctant. | |
| Life 425: I never put the hammer on hard. I didn’t make a move. | |
| (con. 1973) Johnny Porno 188: They put the hammer to her. ‘Turn informant or get used to munching muff the next dozen years’ [...] They laid it on thick. |
(US) to beat up.
| Man with the Golden Arm 316: Had they let the punk out [...] or had they put the hammers to him? |
in trouble, at a disadvantage.
| ‘Hearts for Sale’ 🎵 I’m under the hammer. |
In exclamations
an excl. of surprise or disappointment.
| Insurrection 108: A rank outsider! Aw! By the hammers of hell! |
(US) a dismissive excl, suggesting that a speaker stop complaining and start offering praise.
| Indoor Sports 12 Mar. [synd. cartoon] Aw sell your hammer and buy a horn. | |
| Frankfort Dly Index (Frankfort, KS) 3 Sept. 1/3: To habitual critics we pass on the following excellent suggestion which we recently heard: ‘Sell your hammer and buy a horn’. | |
| Tennessean (Nashville, TN) 13 Sept. 5/7: [advert] Sell Your Hammer and Buy a Horn. Don’t Knock, BOOST for the Tennessee State Fair. | |
| letter in Amarillo Globe-Times (TX) 3 May5/3: As long as you have to live where, why not ‘sell your hammer and buy a horn’. | |
| Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) 11 Aug. 6/1: ‘Sell your hammer and buy a horn.’ That was an oft heard admonition in an earlier and more expansive period of American history. A free translation would be, ‘Quit knocking and start boosting’. |