hammer home

present singular third person hammers home · participle present hammering home · participle past hammered home · past hammered home

1. idiomaticTo repeatedly or continually emphasize (an opinion or idea) until or so that a person or group of people understands it.

   Our instructor would hammer home the point that safety was most important.

   3 more examples

   What would Fred Flintstone say if we insisted on spelling his name Phred Phlintstone! Just to hammer the point home, IUPAC only accepts alternative spellings for two elements, and neither of them is sulfur: 'aluminum' and 'cesium' are fair game, although Nature Chemistry uses aluminium and caesium.

   2009 August 28, “So long sulphur”, in Nature Chemistry, volume 1, number 5, →DOI, →ISSN, page 333

   In other situations, you might know someone who adds colour with personal anecdotes and feelings. You could shoot off a similar response – perhaps including a short story of your own to hammer home your point.

   2020 December 21, Bryan Lufkin, “How 'linguistic mirroring' can make you more convincing”, in BBC

   Seeing that it was withdrawn in perfectly good working order hammers it home: these trains are on borrowed time.

   2023 August 23, Pip Dunn, “The last bastion of the HST 'Castles'”, in RAIL, number 990, page 49

   Synonyms: drive home