Hame, n. [Scot. haims, hammys, hems, OE. ham; cf. D. haam.] One of the
two curved pieces of wood or metal, in the harness of a draught horse,
to which the traces are fastened. They are fitted upon the collar, or
have pads fitting the horse's neck attached to them.
Ham"el (hm"l), v. t. [Obs.] Same as Hamble.
{ Hame"seck`en (hm"sk`'n), Hame"suck`en (-sk`'n), } n. [AS. hmscn. See
Home, and Seek.] (Scots Law) The felonious seeking and invasion of a
person in his dwelling house. Bouvier.
Ha"mi*form (h"m*fÙrm), a. [L. hamus hook + -form.] Hook-shaped.
Ham"il*ton pe"ri*od (hm"l*tn p"r*d). (Geol.) A subdivision of the
Devonian system of America; -- so named from Hamilton, Madison Co., New
York. It includes the Marcellus, Hamilton, and Genesee epochs or
groups. See the Chart of Geology.
||Ham`i*nu"ra (hm`*n"r), n. (Zoˆl.) A large edible river fish
||(Erythrinus macrodon) of Guiana.
Ha"mite (h"mt), n.[L. hamus hook.] (Paleon.) A fossil cephalopod of the
genus Hamites, related to the ammonites, but having the last whorl bent
into a hooklike form.
Ham"ite (hm"t), n. A descendant of Ham, Noah's second son. See Gen. x.
6- 20.
Ham*it"ic (hm*t"k), a. Pertaining to Ham or his descendants.
Hamitic languages, the group of languages spoken mainly in the Sahara,
Egypt, Galla, and Som‚li Land, and supposed to be allied to the
Semitic. Keith Johnston.
Ham"let (hm"lt), n. [OE. hamelet, OF. hamelet, dim. of hamel, F.
hameau, LL. hamellum, a dim. of German origin; cf. G. heim home.
√220. See Home.] A small village; a little cluster of houses in
the country.
The country wasted, and the hamlets burned.
Dryden.
Syn. -- Village; neighborhood. See Village.
Ham"let*ed, p. a. Confined to a hamlet. Feltham.
Ham"mer (-mr), 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. aÁman 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.
With busy hammers closing rivets up.
Shak.
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.
He met the stern legionaries [of Rome] who had been the "massive
iron hammers" of the whole earth.
J. H. Newman.
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
(Zoˆl.), 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.
Ham"mer, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hammered (-mrd); p. pr. & vb. n.
Hammering.] 1. To beat with a hammer; to beat with heavy blows; as, to
hammer iron.
2. To form or forge with a hammer; to shape by beating. "Hammered
money." Dryden.
3. To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor; -- usually
with out.
Who was hammering out a penny dialogue.
Jeffry.
Ham"mer, v. i. 1. To be busy forming anything; to labor hard as if
shaping something with a hammer.
Whereon this month I have been hammering.
Shak.