Battering-ram \Bat"ter*ing-ram`\, n.
1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the
walls of besieged places.
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.
2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally.