fore-hammern.
/ˈfɔːˌhamə/, U.S. /ˈfɔrˌhæmər/, Scottish English /ˈforˌhamər/ Scottish and northern dialect.
The large hammer which strikes first; a sledgehammer.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > driving or beating tools > [noun] > hammer > sledge-hammer
sledgea1000
mauler1305
sledgehammer1495
fore-hammer1543
sled1616
about-sledge1678
gad-sledge1874
Monday1965
1543 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 43 Item iiij fore hamers.
1592 Sc. Act Jas. VI (1814) III. 538 Breking vp his chalmer durris with foirhammeris.
1786 R. Burns Poems 25 The strong forehammer.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 150 The unceasing clang of the heavy forehammers.
1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders 315 From the other side..came the sound of a forehammer thundering on a gate.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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