WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Bat"ter*ing-ram`
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : Defn: 1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places.

Note: It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes t a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. Grose.

2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913