hammerstone

noun

ham·​mer·​stone ˈha-mər-ˌstōn How to pronounce hammerstone (audio)
: a prehistoric hammering implement consisting of a rounded stone

Examples of hammerstone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The surface also showed signs of having been prepared by hammerstones prior to the engraving. Samuel Axon and Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 5 June 2023 These tool types, which our distant ancestors began making at least 2.6 million years ago, were basic, including hammerstones for bludgeoning and sharp flakes that were struck off larger cores to provide a sharp cutting edge. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Oct. 2023 The engraved surfaces also appear to have been smoothed with hammerstones and polished with dirt or sand, according to the researchers. Kate Wong, Scientific American, 5 June 2023 In contrast, the earlier Lomekwi 3 toolmakers set the cores on larger rocks and struck them with the hammerstone from above. Hillary Waterman, Discover Magazine, 30 Sep. 2015 Some of the more than 5,000 items include a miner’s belt designed for self-rescue, a fossil from a time when the entire gorge was an underwater home to marine life and a Native American hammerstone used to prepare food hundreds of years ago. From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2022 Ancient people typically carved petroglyphs into boulders with a stone chisel and a hammerstone. Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Apr. 2021 Among the finds were traces of a fossilized forest 32 meters beneath the waves, including tree roots, terrestrial snail shells, and peat—plus a small flint flake and part of a broken flint hammerstone shaped by hunter-gatherers. Andrew Curry, Science | AAAS, 30 Jan. 2020 Mackie drops the hammerstone into a plastic zip-lock bag with a small piece of paper denoting its depth and location in the pit. Rafal Gerszak, Smithsonian, 19 Dec. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hammerstone was in 1872

Dictionary Entries Near hammerstone

Cite this Entry

“Hammerstone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hammerstone. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!