Jackhammer vs Sledgehammer - What's the difference?

jackhammer | sledgehammer |


As nouns the difference between jackhammer and sledgehammer

is that jackhammer is a portable percussive power tool that combines a hammer and chisel used to drill or break hard matter, for instance rock or concrete 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 jackhammer and sledgehammer

is that jackhammer is to use a jackhammer while sledgehammer is to strike with a sledgehammer.

jackhammer

Noun

(en noun)
  • A portable percussive power tool that combines a hammer and chisel used to drill or break hard matter, for instance rock or concrete.
  • Verb

  • To use a jackhammer.
  • 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.}}