What it means
چکش (chakkosh) means hammer. The word is native Persian, descended from Middle Persian chakuch, which itself traces back to the Avestan cakuš meaning battle-axe. The semantic shift from battle-axe to hammer reflects a long history of use across Persian-speaking cultures. The word covers any striking hammer: a carpenter’s hammer, a sledgehammer (پتک, patak, for the very large kind), or a small tack hammer. You will also hear the derived verb چکش زدن (chakkosh zadan) meaning to hammer something.
How to use it
- چکش رو بیار اینجا. (chakkosho biâr injâ.) “Bring the hammer here.”
- با چکش میخ کوبیدم. (bâ chakkosh mikh kubidam.) “I drove the nail in with a hammer.”
- صدای چکش از همسایه میاد. (sedâ-ye chakkosh az hamsâye miyâd.) “The sound of hammering is coming from the neighbor’s place.”
- چکشت کجاست؟ (chakkoshat kojâst?) “Where is your hammer?”
Cultural note
The hammer appears in a well-known Persian proverb: چکش آهنگر اگر سرد هم بزند باز آتش میزند, meaning even a cold hammer strike from a blacksmith still produces sparks, used to praise someone whose least effort still yields results. In traditional Iranian bazaars, the rhythmic sound of hammering in the copper and ironwork districts (رسته مسگرها) was a defining sound of urban life, and چکش was the tool that shaped metalwork from cookware to architectural ornaments.