as in violent
marked by bursts of destructive force or intense activity
the scuffle escalated into a hammer-and-tongs fight
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in sharply
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hammer-and-tongs
Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 16 July 2024
The action on Nevarro is crisp and well-presented, highlighted by the Armorer taking out the sniper’s nest singlehandedly with only her hammer and tongs as weapons.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2023
The two conservative groups that brought the case were targeted by Harris in 2012-13, right around the time the IRS was going hammer and tongs after Tea Party groups.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 1 July 2021
Two teams who seem destined to slug it out in the lower reaches of the table this season going hammer and tongs at each other never makes for a good watch.
—SI.com, 18 Sep. 2019
With two moderate Pyrenean climbs, Thursday’s Stage 12 from Toulouse, where cassoulet and rugby are both big, wasn’t tough enough for Thomas and his rivals to go at each other hammer and tongs.
—Washington Post, 18 July 2019
The way to stand out from the others is to go hammer and tongs for the opponents’ jugulars, or to try to sound more extreme than the others.
—Jim Jones, idahostatesman, 18 May 2018
Adverb
In 1971, authors Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal went at it hammer and tongs live on late-night TV in a showdown that allegedly spilled over into violence.
—Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 16 July 2024
The action on Nevarro is crisp and well-presented, highlighted by the Armorer taking out the sniper’s nest singlehandedly with only her hammer and tongs as weapons.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2023
The two conservative groups that brought the case were targeted by Harris in 2012-13, right around the time the IRS was going hammer and tongs after Tea Party groups.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 1 July 2021
Two teams who seem destined to slug it out in the lower reaches of the table this season going hammer and tongs at each other never makes for a good watch.
—SI.com, 18 Sep. 2019
With two moderate Pyrenean climbs, Thursday’s Stage 12 from Toulouse, where cassoulet and rugby are both big, wasn’t tough enough for Thomas and his rivals to go at each other hammer and tongs.
—Washington Post, 18 July 2019
The way to stand out from the others is to go hammer and tongs for the opponents’ jugulars, or to try to sound more extreme than the others.
—Jim Jones, idahostatesman, 18 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hammer-and-tongs
Adjective
-
Opponents will learn about his violent play style very quickly.—
Dane Brugler,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The government actually deported more than six hundred and seventy-five thousand people, but getting just to that number involved broad and violent sweeps and the expulsion of people who were in the country legally, actions that led to widespread protests.—
Benjamin Wallace-Wells,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
If the bike lane is sharply delineated with curbs, that will help a lot.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Candidates diverge sharply on school police, Supt.—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Behind a ferocious defense and an offense that couldn’t miss, the Knicks led by 25 points after one quarter, by as many as 51 points in the first half, and by as many as 61 points after halftime.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2026
-
Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap have always been ferocious rappers, two goliaths spitting bilingual bars over gritty electronica with the couplet-completing precision of Run the Jewels.—
Dean Van Nguyen,
Pitchfork,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
The beat is knowingly Hoover-esque, gesturing toward familiar dramatic territory between lovers — before violently swerving in a more genre-forward direction.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
27 Apr. 2026
-
When Jewish institutions have been targeted — violently, repeatedly — the question is not whether to act, but how quickly and decisively.—
Elliot Cosgrove,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Along the way, there have been fast times, big doping busts and fierce corporate competition for the fastest humans in history.—
Sara Germano,
Sportico.com,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Pre-marketing fight lands in court The fiercest pushback to Compass’s marketing strategy came from Zillow, the country’s largest home-search platform.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Investors had cheered the talks and the prospect of change at a fiercely independent company that had relied on decades-old relationships.—
Edwin Chan,
Bloomberg,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The play follows a fiercely competitive group of real estate agents battling for survival in a ruthless sales contest.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Officials were furious about a video Mamdani made in front of Griffin's building to justify taxing the owners of multimillion dollar apartments.—
Marcia Kramer,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The latter song exemplifies Martin’s neck-snappingly furious style; his drumming simply never settles.—
Dean Van Nguyen,
Pitchfork,
22 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
When the Dodgers public address announcer read the Cubs starting lineup, Dodgers fans vehemently booed Crow-Armstrong, a trend that continued before each at-bat and again Saturday when he was announced pregame.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Rather than bruising the Italian leader, the barbs have appear to have won her support at home, even uniting those who vehemently oppose and criticize her.—
Barbie Latza Nadeau,
CNN Money,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hammer-and-tongs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hammer-and-tongs. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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