hammer out

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

1. transitiveTo flatten and shape (metal) by hammering.

   A smith hammers out iron on an anvil.

   2 more examples

   [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

   As the goldsmith hammers out his savage metal, / So is the infant axial to the dance.

   1958, Djuna Barnes, “Act Three”, in The Antiphon, page 118

2. transitiveTo 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.

   2 more examples

   The fender was so badly damaged that it couldn’t be hammered out.

   […] some still unemptied cup / That he, when frenzy stirred his thewes, / Had hammered out on mountain top / To hold the sacred stuff he brews

   1913, W. B. Yeats, “The Grey Rock”, in Later Poems, published 1922, pages 177-178

3. transitiveTo remove (something tightly in place) by hammering.

   The bolt wouldn’t budge so she tried hammering it out.

   1 more example

   ‘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. transitiveTo produce (a sound or signal) by hammering.

   The kids are forever hammering out “Heart and Soul” on the piano.

   2 more examples

   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, They won’t come, then won’t come, they won’t come!

   1857, Charles Dickens, chapter 3, in Little Dorrit, volume 1, page 22

   These rites were preceded by the royal salute hammered out on a pair of wooden gongs as break of day.

   1961, Onuora Nzekwu, chapter 1, in Wand of Noble Wood, page 8

5. transitiveTo 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 versa

   1954, Arthur Koestler, chapter 26, in The Invisible Writing, page 284

6. figurativelytransitiveTo 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.

   4 more examples

   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

   Thus grew the tale of Wonderland: / Thus slowly, one by one, / Its quaint events were hammered out—

   1867, Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, page b

   […] might not all the specific attributes we call ‘human’ […] have evolved as stratagems for survival, hammered out against tremendous odds, to avert the threat of extinction?

   1987, Bruce Chatwin, chapter 31, in The Songlines, page 220

   […] when she falls completely in love with him, when they begin to hammer out their plans of marriage after graduation

   2002, Gary Shteyngart, chapter 36, in The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, page 424

7. figurativelytransitiveTo 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.

   3 more examples

   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 have yet to be hammered out and adopted.

   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

   Over the next week and a half, diplomats will have to hammer out rules around international carbon markets and figure out how to deliver on a still-unmet promise from more than a decade ago to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to help poor countries pivot away from fossil fuels and prepare for the impact of climate change.

   2021 November 2, Jim Tankersley, Katie Rogers, Lisa Friedman, “With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   He really doesn't know when to shut up and leave it to those at the heart of the negotiations, who fully understand and appreciate all the nuances, to try and hammer out a deal.

   2022 August 10, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Striking a fair balance”, in RAIL, number 963, page 3