Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A child's game in which all the players except two form a circle, one of the latter being inside and the other outside. The one inside the circle endeavors to break through, the player outside assisting him. Should he succeed, that player in the circle who is responsible for his escape takes his place.
- noun An ancient military engine consisting of a large beam shod with metal, sometimes with a head somewhat resembling the head of a ram (whence the name), used to batter or beat down the defenses of besieged places.
- noun A heavy blacksmiths' hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places.
- noun A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a ram used to break down doors of fortified buildings
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Ten yards, not five, were required for a first down, discouraging "battering-ram line plunges" that caused injuries.
Unnecessary Roughness Fred Barnes 2011
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They are using it as a battering-ram to destroy the Democratic opposition by making it impossible for the majority to govern unless that majority agrees to act as a proxy for the right wing.
Matthew Yglesias » Longstanding Problems Are Still Problematic 2010
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But Friday the Fukushima complex was hit by a double whammy: violent shaking from the historic magnitude-8.9 earthquake, and then the battering-ram tsunami that crashed ashore.
Nuclear power industry watches warily as Japan's aging reactor is hit hard 2011
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But Friday the Fukushima complex was hit by a double whammy: violent shaking from the historic magnitude-8.9 earthquake, and then the battering-ram tsunami that crashed ashore.
Nuclear power industry watches warily as Japan's aging reactor is hit hard 2011
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Last season, the Cardinal's identity was as a punishing running team that could run the ball against defenses stacked to stop the run because it had the battering-ram of a tailback in Gerhart.
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Suddenly, senators lost their power to veto nominees, and battering-ram tactics like the “Ginsburg Rule” and the “Nuclear Option” entered the political lexicon.
Wonk Room 2009
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Suddenly, senators lost their power to veto nominees, and battering-ram tactics like the “Ginsburg Rule” and the “Nuclear Option” entered the political lexicon.
Wonk Room » Leahy Calls For Action On Stalled Legal Nominees 2009
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Later she jams them altogether to make a battering-ram against her husband's complacent betrayal.
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I suppose it would be about a hundred paces square, but I can't be sure from memory, with adobe walls twenty feet high and stout enough to resist a battering-ram.
Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010
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The mist cleared further, and the gate gave in under the blows of an improvised battering-ram, covered by showers of arrows from short range.
In The Time Of Light dj barber 2010
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