anvil

/'ænvil/

Thân thiện

A blacksmith hammers a glowing horseshoe on the anvil.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A heavy iron or steel block: A solid block, typically with a flat top and sometimes a pointed end (horn), upon which heated metal is placed to be shaped by hammering.
   • An ossicle in the ear: (Anatomy) The small, anvil-shaped bone (ossicle) in the middle ear, one of three that transmit sound vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear; also called the incus.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Tool):
  • The blacksmith hammered the red-hot iron on the anvil.
  • A traditional anvil is made of forged steel.
• Noun (Anatomy):
  • Sound vibrations pass from the malleus to the anvil (incus) and then to the stapes.
  • The three tiny bones are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.

Advanced Usage

• "To be on the anvil": (Idiomatic) To be in preparation or under active discussion and development.
  • The new policy is still on the anvil and won't be announced for months.
• "Anvil chorus": A loud, critical, or hostile public outcry or protest.
  • The mayor's proposal was met with an anvil chorus of complaints from residents.

Variants and Related Words

• Incus: (Noun) The technical anatomical term for the anvil bone in the middle ear.
• Anvil cloud: (Meteorology) The flat, spreading top of a cumulonimbus cloud, shaped like an anvil.

Synonyms

• Block (for the tool, in a general sense).
• Incus (for the anatomical part).

Related Idioms

• A good anvil does not fear the hammer: (Proverb) A person who is honest, strong, or in the right has nothing to fear from criticism or attack.
  • The senator faced the inquiry calmly, believing a good anvil does not fear the hammer.

Học thuật

Noun

1. the ossicle between the malleus and the stapes
2. a heavy block of iron or steel on which hot metals are shaped by hammering

Từ đồng nghĩa

• incus