Hammer

Doe the phrase *Hammer something into someone* mean to force someone to to remember something by repeating it , and therefore equivalent of *cramming*?

thanks

Yes and no. It does mean to repeat something forcefully and frequently. "Cramming" doesn't contain that element of repeating, repeating, repeating...

Isn't "hammering" something in akin to learning by rote?

Cramming is last-minute desperate learning as practiced by college students the night before a test.

To hammer something into someone can mean to repeat the point forcefully with the goal of having the person take it seriously (e.g., obey a rule of behavior), not necessarily the goal of simply having the person remember it. Cramming is confined to learning facts, and students do it themselves. One doesn't cram somebody else.