Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A stone or cobble used as a pounding or pecking tool.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaeology A type of stone used to hit or strike in a similar way to a modern-day hammer.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

hammer +‎ stone

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Examples

  • As we scraped and dug around the house area, fire pits emerged from under the tough grass, yielding chert flakes, an occasional hammerstone or a scraper, and one melted green glass bead no larger than a pinhead.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • As we scraped and dug around the house area, fire pits emerged from under the tough grass, yielding chert flakes, an occasional hammerstone or a scraper, and one melted green glass bead no larger than a pinhead.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • As we scraped and dug around the house area, fire pits emerged from under the tough grass, yielding chert flakes, an occasional hammerstone or a scraper, and one melted green glass bead no larger than a pinhead.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • As we scraped and dug around the house area, fire pits emerged from under the tough grass, yielding chert flakes, an occasional hammerstone or a scraper, and one melted green glass bead no larger than a pinhead.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • In his right hand, he grasps a round, smooth hammerstone as if it were a baseball.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

  • (Soundbite of banging) JOYCE: He swings the hammerstone and whacks the core.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

  • (Soundbite of banging) JOYCE: He swings the hammerstone and whacks the core.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

  • And my opposed thumb and wider fingertips also mean I can grip a round stone - like a hammerstone - with more control than an ape can.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

  • In his right hand, he grasps a round, smooth hammerstone as if it were a baseball.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

  • And my opposed thumb and wider fingertips also mean I can grip a round stone - like a hammerstone - with more control than an ape can.

    A Handy Bunch: Tools, Thumbs Helped Us Thrive 2010

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