Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

yellow hammer

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.05 in modern English

Syllables: yel-low ham-mer
IPA

25

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A curve ball, especially a breaking curve that is particularly difficult to hit.

Example Sentences

"Watching the ballgame today someone broke off a real good curve and I said, "That was a real yellow hammer.""
"Williams, getting steady doses of Koufax's "yellow hammer," struck out looking at a curve, Sandy's fifth K."
"“Bastard curveball” is one of several names in baseball for a virtually unhittable curve that breaks so sharply it qualifies as yet another marvel of physics. Yakker. Bowel-locker. Yellow hammer. Take your pick."
""[…]I know my baseball, and this kid was a beast. His fastball was okay, a cutter in the low nineties, but it was his dirty deuce that was outright nasty.” DeBorn frowned. “Dirty deuce?” “You know—the dirty yellow hammer . . . the yakker. Public enemy number two. A breaking ball, Bert! This kid had a breaking ball that was like hitting a lead shot put[…]""

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.

Inflected Forms

yellow hammers (plural)

Questions

What does yellow hammer mean?: A curve ball, especially a breaking curve that is particularly difficult to hit.
Where does yellow hammer come from?: The origin is uncertain.

How to pronounce yellow hammer

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “yellow hammer”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “yellow hammer”.
Repeat and practice — Say “yellow hammer” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.