battering ram

an ancient military device with a heavy horizontal ram for battering down walls, gates, etc.

any of various similar devices, usually machine-powered, used in demolition, by police and firefighters to force entrance to a building, etc.

Origin of battering ram

First recorded in 1605–15

From the empty cow-stall they took a beam to serve as a battering-ram, and hurled it against the door with all their might.

The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 (of 8) |Guy de Maupassant
They are the repetitions of a battering-ram that gives blow upon blow till the wall crumbles before it.

Companion to the Bible |E. P. Barrows
This battering-ram ice was, so to speak, the first army that the sea was flinging against the floe.

The Second Jungle Book |Rudyard Kipling
A stick of timber was used as a battering-ram for the outside; inside the building the sailors were like a swarm of bees.

The Story of a Strange Career |Anonymous

A tree was cut down in the woods some distance from the shore, shortened, and brought down, ready for its duty of battering-ram.

The Trail of the Sword, Complete |Gilbert Parker

battering ram

(esp formerly) a large beam used to break down the walls or doors of fortifications