gone to the hammer
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Applied to goods sent to a sale by auction; the auctioneer giving a rap with a small hammer when a lot is sold, to intimate that there is an end to the bidding, hence to sell under the hammer.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “gone to the hammer” mean?
Applied to goods sent to a sale by auction; the auctioneer giving a rap with a small hammer when a lot is sold, to intimate that there is an end to the bidding, hence to sell under the hammer.
Is “gone to the hammer” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.