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Mallet vs Sledgehammer - What's the difference?

mallet | sledgehammer |

As nouns the difference between mallet and sledgehammer

is that mallet is a type of hammer with a larger than usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul while sledgehammer is a hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.

As verbs the difference between mallet and sledgehammer

is that mallet is to strike with a mallet while sledgehammer is to strike with a sledgehammer.

As a proper noun Mallet

is often the malicious party in examples of threat scenarios (synonym: Mallory). See Alice and Bob.

mallet

English

(wikipedia mallet)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A type of hammer with a larger than usual head made of wood, rubber or similar non-iron material, used by woodworkers for driving a tool, such as a chisel. A kind of maul.
  • A weapon resembling the tool, but typically much larger.
  • * 1786 , Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons , page 51:
  • The Mallet of arms, according to the representation of it given by Father Daniel, exactly resembles the wooden instrument of that name, now in use, except in the length of the handle, it was like the hammer of arms, to be used with both hands, indeed it differed very little from that weapon in its form.
  • A light beetle with a long handle used in playing croquet.
  • The stick used to strike the ball in the sport of polo.
  • Derived terms

    * malleter * (cryptography)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike with a mallet.
  • sledgehammer

    English

    Alternative forms

    * sledge-hammer

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hammer that consists of a large, heavy, broad and flat block of metal (the head) attached to a handle typically 0.5 meter to 1 meter long. The sledgehammer's design is meant to allow it to be swung powerfully, and to distribute force over a wide area upon impact.
  • Derived terms

    * use a sledgehammer to crack a nut

    See also

    * hammer * mallet * maul

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike with a sledgehammer.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=February 22, author=Jane And Michael Stern, title=Nirvana Express, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=She’s trying to piece together shards of precious pottery gleefully sledgehammered by a delegation led by the Taliban ’s minister of culture, who deemed the world’s greatest collection of Central Asian artifacts un-Islamic.}}