Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The end of a hammerhead opposite the flat striking surface, often wedge-shaped or ball-shaped and used for chipping, indenting, and metalworking.
  • transitive verb To hammer, bend, or shape with a peen.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To treat by striking regularly all over with the peen of a hammer.
  • noun That end of a hammer-head or similar tool which terminates in an edge, or in a sharp, rounded cone-shaped, hemispherical, or otherwise specially modified point, as distinguished form the ordinary flat face. See also cuts under hammer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A round-edged, or hemispherical, end to the head of a hammer or sledge, used to stretch or bend metal by indentation.
  • noun The sharp-edged end of the head of a mason's hammer.
  • transitive verb To draw, bend, or straighten, as metal, by blows with the peen of a hammer or sledge.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang Penis.
  • noun The (often spherical) end of the head of a hammer opposite the main hammering end.
  • verb To shape metal by striking it, especially with a peen.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the part of a hammerhead opposite the flat striking surface (may have various shapes)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably of Scandinavian origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From penis by shortening.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Etymology uncertain. Possibly from Old French panne, pene, (whence Modern French panne "peen"); possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare dialectal Norwegian penn "peen" or Danish pind "peg".

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Examples

  • I'm sure your hubby was shocked, but when, really, is she going to see another 'peen'?

    Minding One's Peens and Q's 2008

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I've never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch 2009

  • But I’ve never been one for the male bimbo look, especially when (as the folks at Defamer reported) said male bimbo bares his, ahem, "peen" (to quote my esteemed colleague Michael Slezak), while playing the didgeridoo.

    The real reason Matthew McConaughey's 'Surfer, Dude' went under | EW.com 2008

  • With these tools you will peen the blade, precisely hitting its very edge, repeatedly, with force enough to thin the metal and restraint enough to keep it from tearing.

    Daegan Miller: "How to Sharpen a Scythe" Daegan Miller 2023

Comments

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  • The end of a hammerhead opposite the face (striking side)

    February 23, 2007

  • Unless it's a claw hammer…

    April 6, 2008

  • Isn't it still called a peen, though, despite the shape?

    April 7, 2008

  • That's quite possible; it's years since my dad taught me all this stuff. And the thing that makes me think you're right is that one of the hammers was the "ball pein" hammer (yes, different spelling), which had a rounded, mushroomy striking surface opposite the regular flat one. And then there was the "claw hammer", which was much better at removing nails. I have probably been misled by the name of the ball pein hammer into thinking that peins/peens are by definition rounded.

    April 7, 2008

  • That makes sense. OED lists zillions of spellings, but it does define peen as "end of a hammer head opposite the face; (formerly) spec. the sharp or thin end." So we can both be correct. :-)

    April 8, 2008