hammer out — negotiate and reach an agreement after discussion
to reach an agreement or solution after a lot of discussion and effort, especially when people have different opinions or interests.
Say it like a native
Textbook The two sides finally negotiated a mutually acceptable agreement.
Native The two sides finally hammered out a deal.
'Hammer out' conveys the hard, back-and-forth effort of reaching a deal. The formal version is flat.
Pattern: hammer out something (with someone)
In use
- After several hours of heated debate, the two sides finally hammered out a compromise.work
- In my opinion, international leaders need to hammer out clear agreements on climate change if we want to see real progress.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They hammered out on the details.
✓ They hammered out the details.
'Hammer out + thing' directly — no 'on'.
Common collocations
hammer out + agreement— a deal, the details, a compromise, an agreement
Don't confuse it
Unlike the literal sense of 'hammer' (to hit something with a hammer), this sense is figurative and focuses on the process of negotiating and resolving differences. It is stronger and more specific than 'work out', which can refer to any solution, not necessarily after hard negotiation.