anvil








noun

  1. a heavy iron block with a smooth face, frequently of steel, on which metals, usually heated until soft, are hammered into desired shapes.
  2. anything having a similar form or use.
  3. the fixed jaw in certain measuring instruments.
  4. Also called anvil cloud, anvil top. Meteorology. incus(def 2).
  5. a musical percussion instrument having steel bars that are struck with a wooden or metal beater.
  6. Anatomy. incus(def 1).

noun

  1. a heavy iron or steel block on which metals are hammered during forging
  2. any part having a similar shape or function, such as the lower part of a telegraph key
  3. the fixed jaw of a measurement device against which the piece to be measured is held
  4. anatomy the nontechnical name for incus
n.

Old English anfilt, a West Germanic compound (cf. Middle Dutch anvilt, Old High German anafalz, Dutch aanbeeld, Danish ambolt “anvil”) from *ana- “on” + *filtan “hit” (see felt (n.)). The ear bone so called from 1680s. Anvil Chorus is based on the “Gypsy Song” that opens Act II of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore,” first performed in Teatro Apollo, Rome, Jan. 19, 1853.

n.

  1. incus
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