'Hammer fish' definitions:

Definition of 'Hammer fish'

From: GCIDE
  • Hammer \Ham"mer\ (h[a^]m"m[~e]r), n. [OE. hamer, AS. hamer, hamor; akin to D. hamer, G. & Dan. hammer, Sw. hammare, Icel. hamarr, hammer, crag, and perh. to Gr. 'a`kmwn anvil, Skr. a[,c]man stone.]
  • 1. An instrument for driving nails, beating metals, and the like, consisting of a head, usually of steel or iron, fixed crosswise to a handle. [1913 Webster]
  • With busy hammers closing rivets up. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Something which in form or action resembles the common hammer; as: (a) That part of a clock which strikes upon the bell to indicate the hour. (b) The padded mallet of a piano, which strikes the wires, to produce the tones. (c) (Anat.) The malleus. See under Ear. (d) (Gun.) That part of a gunlock which strikes the percussion cap, or firing pin; the cock; formerly, however, a piece of steel covering the pan of a flintlock musket and struck by the flint of the cock to ignite the priming. (e) Also, a person or thing that smites or shatters; as, St. Augustine was the hammer of heresies. [1913 Webster]
  • He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the "massive iron hammers" of the whole earth. --J. H. Newman. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Athletics) A spherical weight attached to a flexible handle and hurled from a mark or ring. The weight of head and handle is usually not less than 16 pounds. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Atmospheric hammer, a dead-stroke hammer in which the spring is formed by confined air.
  • Drop hammer, Face hammer, etc. See under Drop, Face, etc.
  • Hammer fish. See Hammerhead.
  • Hammer hardening, the process of hardening metal by hammering it when cold.
  • Hammer shell (Zool.), any species of Malleus, a genus of marine bivalve shells, allied to the pearl oysters, having the wings narrow and elongated, so as to give them a hammer-shaped outline; -- called also hammer oyster.
  • To bring to the hammer, to put up at auction. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'hammer fish'

From: GCIDE
  • Hammerhead \Ham"mer*head`\ (-h[e^]d`), n.
  • 1. (Zool.) A shark of the genus Sphyrna or Zyg[ae]na, having the eyes set on projections from the sides of the head, which gives it a hammer shape. The {Sphyrna zyg[ae]na} is found in the North Atlantic. Called also hammer fish, and balance fish. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Zool.) A fresh-water fish; the stone-roller. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Zool.) An African fruit bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus); -- so called from its large blunt nozzle. [1913 Webster]