anvil
A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can…A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
» Better a hammer than an anvil.
Meaning
5 sensesA heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
1794, William Blake, “The Tyger,” lines 15-16, What the anvil? what dread grasp / Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
Amboss
накова́льняnakoválʹnja
кова́длоkovádlo
a heavy block of iron or steel on which hot metals are shaped by hammering
The incus bone in the middle ear.
Amboss
накова́льняnakoválʹnja
кова́делкоkovádelko
a small bone in the middle ear between the malleus and the stapes
A stone or other hard surface used by a bird for breaking the shells of snails.
The non-moving surface of a micrometer against which the item to be measured is placed.
A horizontal-topped mass of cloud, shaped like a blacksmith's anvil, that forms before a thunderstorm.
Examples
17 sentencesBetter a hammer than an anvil.
Tom is as dumb as an anvil.
The cobbler is looking for a new anvil.
deDer Schuster ist auf der Suche nach einem neuen Dreifuß.
Tom hammered the glowing iron on the anvil.
deTom bearbeitete das glühende Eisen mit dem Hammer auf dem Amboss.
He hits the anvil with a big hammer.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English anfilt, anvelt, anfelt, from late Old English anfilt, anfilte, anfealtFrom Middle English anfilt, anvelt, anfelt, from late Old English anfilt, anfilte, anfealt, from earlier onfilti (“anvil”), from Proto-West Germanic *anafalt (compare Middle Dutch anvilte, Low German Anfilts, Anefilt, Old High German anafalz), compound of *ana (“on”) + *falt (“beaten”) (compare German falzen (“to groove, fold, welt”), Swedish dialectal filta (“to beat”)), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-t- (“shaken, beaten”) (compare Middle Irish lethar (“leather”), Latin pellō (“to beat, strike”), Ancient Greek πάλλω (pállō, “to toss, brandish”)), enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to stir, move”). More at felon.
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