anvil
/ˈæn.vəl/ noun C2- A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped. · 1794, William Blake, “The Tyger,” lines 15-16, What the anvil? what dread grasp / Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
- The incus bone in the middle ear.
- A stone or other hard surface used by a bird for breaking the shells of snails.
- The non-moving surface of a micrometer against which the item to be measured is placed.
- A horizontal-topped mass of cloud, shaped like a blacksmith's anvil, that forms before a thunderstorm.
Plural anvils
From the library
While I am hammering on the anvil, you sleep on the mat; and when I begin to eat after my toil, you wake up and wag your tail for food.
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