Battering-ram

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Battering-ram \Bat"ter*ing-ram`\, n.
     1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the
        walls of besieged places.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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 to a beam supported by posts, and so
           balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was
           impelled by men against the wall. --Grose.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.
        [1913 Webster]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Battering-ram
     (Ezek. 4:2; 21:22), a military engine, consisting of a long beam
     of wood hung upon a frame, for making breaches in walls. The end
     of it which was brought against the wall was shaped like a ram's
     head.