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under the hammer
Idioms and Phrases
For sale, as in These paintings and Oriental rugs must come under the hammer if we're to pay the mortgage . This expression alludes to the auctioneer's hammer, which is rapped to indicate a completed transaction. [Mid-1800s]Example Sentences
The coin went for considerably less than the only other similar artefact to go under the hammer, which was sold last year in Switzerland for around £50,000.
The BSA Goldstar which featured in the BBC's Hairy Bikers Go West went under the hammer at the National Motorcycle Museum near Solihull, and sold for £15,800, in aid of two charities.
The Bible was among 23 other texts donated to various Oxfam shops, which went under the hammer at Bonhams between 10 and 20 March.
The hat, believed to be the last one owned by the entertainer, was one of eight items of Cooper memorabilia that went under the hammer at The Woburn in Bedfordshire on Saturday.
From an £800 trinket box to a rusty ice cream fridge receiving zero bids, Bargain Hunt has seen thousands of items go under the hammer.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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