Definition of "anvil" in English

noun

1. A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.

   • 1794, William Blake, “The Tyger,” lines 15-16, What the anvil? what dread grasp / Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

2. (anatomy) The incus bone in the middle ear.

3. A stone or other hard surface used by a bird for breaking the shells of snails.

4. The non-moving surface of a micrometer against which the item to be measured is placed.

5. (meteorology) A horizontal-topped mass of cloud, shaped like a blacksmith's anvil, that forms before a thunderstorm.

verb

1. (transitive, often figurative) To fashion on, or as if on, an anvil.