Standard Lemma guide

sledgehammer

adj · noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmə/
  • General-American: /ˈslɛd͡ʒhæmɚ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S L EH1 JH HH AE2 M ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Completely lacking grace and dexterity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To strike (something) with a sledgehammer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: maul, sledge

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hammer

5

verb

Meaning 5

beat with a sledgehammer

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sledge

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hammer

History

Etymology

Compound of sledge + hammer.

Across languages

Translations

91 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: vare — kind of hammer
  • Arabic: مِرْزَبَّة (mirzabba) — kind of hammer
  • Arabic: إِرْزَبَّة (ʔirzabba) — kind of hammer
  • Armenian: կռան (kṙan) — kind of hammer
  • Azerbaijani: gürz — kind of hammer
  • Azerbaijani: kumpul — kind of hammer
  • Belarusian: кува́лда (kuválda) — kind of hammer
  • Bulgarian: вари́я (varíja) — kind of hammer
  • Bulgarian: кова́шки чук (kováški čuk) — kind of hammer
  • Burmese: တူမ (tuma.) — kind of hammer
  • Catalan: picassa — kind of hammer
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大錘 /大锤 (dàchuí) — kind of hammer
  • Crimean Tatar: toqmaq — kind of hammer
  • Crimean Tatar: şoqmar — kind of hammer
  • Czech: perlík — kind of hammer
  • Danish: forhammer — kind of hammer
  • Dutch: voorhamer — kind of hammer
  • Dutch: beukhamer — kind of hammer
  • Estonian: sepavasar — kind of hammer
  • Estonian: suurvasar — kind of hammer
  • Finnish: leka — kind of hammer
  • Finnish: moukari — kind of hammer
  • French: marteau de forgeron — kind of hammer
  • French: masse — kind of hammer
  • French: marteau — kind of hammer
  • Galician: marra — kind of hammer
  • Galician: mallo — kind of hammer
  • Galician: mandarria — kind of hammer
  • Georgian: ურო (uro) — kind of hammer
  • German: Vorschlaghammer — kind of hammer
  • Greek: βαριά (variá) — kind of hammer
  • Hebrew: קוּרְנָס \ קֻרְנָס (kurnás) — kind of hammer
  • Hindi: लोहार का हथौड़ा (lohār kā hathauṛā) — kind of hammer
  • Ido: martelego — kind of hammer
  • Indonesian: palu godam — kind of hammer
  • Indonesian: godam — kind of hammer
  • Italian: mazza — kind of hammer
  • Italian: martello da fabbro — kind of hammer
  • Japanese: 大型ハンマー (ōgata hanmā) — kind of hammer
  • Japanese: スレッジハンマー (surejjihanmā) — kind of hammer
  • Japanese: 大ハンマー (ōhanmā) — kind of hammer
  • Kazakh: зілбалға (zılbalğa) — kind of hammer
  • Khmer: ញញួរដំដែក (ñɔɔñɔñuə dɑm daek) — kind of hammer
  • Korean: 오함마 (ohamma) — kind of hammer
  • Korean: 슬레지해머 (seullejihaemeo) — kind of hammer
  • Korean: 큰해머 (keunhaemeo) — kind of hammer
  • Kyrgyz: барскан (barskan) — kind of hammer
  • Lao: ຄ້ອນທະເນີນ (khǭn tha nœ̄n) — kind of hammer
  • Latin: marcus — kind of hammer
  • Latvian: veseris — kind of hammer
  • Lithuanian: kūjis — kind of hammer
  • Macedonian: токмак (tokmak) — kind of hammer
  • Malagasy: fampohaza — kind of hammer
  • Malay: tukul besi — kind of hammer
  • Maltese: mazza — kind of hammer
  • Mongolian: лантуу (lantuu) — kind of hammer
  • Navajo: bee atsidítsoh — kind of hammer
  • Norman: marté à deux mains — kind of hammer
  • Norwegian Bokmål: slegge — kind of hammer
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sleggje — kind of hammer
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: slegge — kind of hammer
  • Persian: پتک (potk) — kind of hammer
  • Plautdietsch: Schläaja — kind of hammer
  • Polish: młot oburęczny — kind of hammer
  • Polish: młot kowalski — kind of hammer
  • Portuguese: marreta — kind of hammer
  • Romanian: baros — kind of hammer
  • Russian: кува́лда (kuválda) — kind of hammer
  • Russian: балда́ (baldá) — kind of hammer
  • Serbo-Croatian: то̀кмак — kind of hammer
  • Serbo-Croatian: tòkmak — kind of hammer
  • Slovak: perlík — kind of hammer
  • Slovene: macola — kind of hammer
  • Somali: hadhso — kind of hammer
  • Spanish: almádena — kind of hammer
  • Spanish: mandarria — kind of hammer
  • Spanish: comba — kind of hammer
  • Swedish: slägga — kind of hammer
  • Tajik: босқон (bosqon) — kind of hammer
  • Tarifit: azduz — kind of hammer
  • Thai: ค้อนปอนด์ (kɔ́ɔn-bpɔɔn) — kind of hammer
  • Turkish: balyoz — kind of hammer
  • Turkish: madırga — kind of hammer
  • Ottoman Turkish: واریوس (varyos) — kind of hammer
  • Ottoman Turkish: پتك (petk) — kind of hammer
  • Ukrainian: кува́лда (kuválda) — kind of hammer
  • Urdu: مارْتَول (mārtaul) — kind of hammer
  • Uzbek: bosqon — kind of hammer
  • Vietnamese: búa tạ — kind of hammer
  • Welsh: gordd — kind of hammer
  • Yiddish: שמידהאַמער (shmidhamer) — kind of hammer
Real reading context

sledgehammer in complete knowledge articles