sledgehammer

Etymology

From sledge + hammer.

noun

1. 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.

verb

1. (transitive) To strike (something) with a sledgehammer.
   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. February 22, 2009, Jane And Michael Stern, “Nirvana Express”, in New York Times