peen

[peen]

noun

1. a wedgelike, spherical, or other striking end of a hammer head opposite the face.

verb (used with object)

1. to enlarge, straighten, or smooth with a peen.

2. to strengthen (a metal surface) by light hammering or by bombardment with steel balls or shot.

peen

/ piːn /

noun

1. the end of a hammer head opposite the striking face, often rounded or wedge-shaped

verb

1. (tr) to strike with the peen of a hammer or with a stream of metal shot in order to bend or shape (a sheet of metal)

Word History and Origins

Origin of peen¹

1505–15; earlier pen < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Norwegian pen (noun) in same sense (perhaps < German Pinne peen). See pin

Word History and Origins

Origin of peen¹

C17: variant of pane, perhaps from French panne, ultimately from Latin pinna point

Example Sentences

Refurbished vintage ball peen hammers with ombré painted handles are already cropping up on Instagram.

From New York Times

“And I basically used her and lied to her by omission. I knew she wouldn’t’ve been down with what we did if she’d known about my contact with ‘the peen.’

From Literature

By the time Farquar bunched up his fist and stuck out the knuckle of his middle finger, it was hard as a ball peen hammer and sharp as a spear.

From Literature

That’s not to mention the dozens of similarly breathless tweets celebrating Pine’s peen.

From The Guardian

Moore was accused of beating them with a ball peen hammer and a roughly 4-foot-long section of a wooden handrail with two wall brackets still attached.

From Washington Times

When To Use

What does peen mean?

A peen is the round or wedge shaped end of a hammer, opposite its face.To peen is to enlarge, straighten, or smooth with a peen, as in Sahid smoothed the cut edge by peening it with a ball peen hammer.To peen is also to strengthen by lightly hammering it, as in In metal shop, we peened scrap pieces to learn how to strengthen metal.Example: Peen the bottom to give it a textured finish.