on the anvil
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Being shaped or formed, often in a difficult or challenging way
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đang được hình thành hoặc tạo ra, thường theo cách khó khăn hoặc thách thức
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: on a metalworking anvil
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The new policy is on the anvil and will be announced soon
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “on the anvil” mean?
Being shaped or formed, often in a difficult or challenging way Literally: on a metalworking anvil
Is “on the anvil” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.