ANVIL, (Encycl.) a smith's utensil, serving to place their work on to be hammered or forged. The face or uppermost surface of the anvil must be very flat and smooth, without flaws; and so hard that a file will not touch it.—At one end is sometimes a pike, bickern or beak-iron, for the rounding of hollow work. The whole is usually mounted on a firm wooden block.