Tottenham got back to winning ways, to the delight of Ange Postecoglou, who had declared their defeat at Brighton before the international break the worst of his tenure here.
Although West Ham took the lead through Mohammed Kudus, who was later sent off, they were no match for their London rivals, who dominated from start to finish and should have won by a bigger margin.
Most pleasing for Postecoglou was the fact that his team took control of the game in the 15 minutes after half-time, which was when they had capitulated to Brighton last time out.
Yet the early signs were worrying for Spurs, as West Ham took the lead in the 18th minute, against the run of play. Kudus had earlier brought a fine save from Guglielmo Vicario, who tipped the Ghanaian's volley over the bar.
But when Kudus had another chance, from Jarrod Bowen's low cross, he placed his shot with power and precision past the Tottenham goalkeeper.
Tottenham dominated in terms of possession and chances, but had struggled to break down West Ham's packed defence in the opening half-hour, testing Alphonse Areola only once when Pedro Porro shot from 25 yards.
Previous shots were either blocked or just wide, and even Dejan Kulusevski's equaliser in the 36th minute had a touch of good fortune. James Maddison led a break out from Tottenham's half to play in Kulusevski on the right.
The Swede cut inside, shot with his favoured left foot and the ball rebounded off the inside of the near post, cut along the goal-line and bounced in off the far post.
Tottenham had collapsed memorably in the second half against Brighton in their previous game two weeks ago, throwing away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2, and Ange Postecoglou was determined there should be no repeat.
Indeed Spurs were fired up after the break here, and took the game away from West Ham with three goals in an eight-minute spell. Destiny Udogie had been at fault when Kudus scored, allowing Bowen room to cross, but the Italian full-back made amends with a run of his own to the byline before cutting the ball back for Yves Bissouma to steer a low shot through a crowded penalty area.
Three minutes later Kulusevski set up Heung Min Son for a shot, and though Areola got a foot to block it, the ball rebounded off Jean-Clair Todibo and the keeper before trickling over the line.
To compound Todibo's misery, he was turned this way and that as Son ran on to Pape Matat Sarr's incisive through ball and shot left-footed past Areola to make it 4-1.
Spurs threatened to run riot, with Son shooting against the post, his replacement Timo Werner missing two good chances, Dominic Solanke being denied and Kulusevski curling a shot just wide of the far post.
Vicario had only one more save to make, tipping away a curling shot from Kudus, who was then sent off in the closing minutes after shoving Micky Van de Ven in the face, having kicked out at the Spurs defender when he was lying prone.
Referee Andy Madley initially booked both players, but VAR prompted him to review the pitchside monitor. He spotted Kudus raising his hands twice during an unseemly melee involving most of the outfield players, and showed a red card to the Ghanian.
The result moved Tottenham temporarily up to sixth in the table and back on course for a tilt at a top four finish.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-3-3): Vicario 7; Porro 7, Romero 7, Van de Ven 7, Udogie 6 (Gray 87); Kulusevski 7, Bissouma 8 (Bentancur 80), Maddison 7 (Sarr 46); Johnson 6, Solanke 8 (Richarlison 80), Son 7 (Werner 70).
WEST HAM (4-3-3): Areola 7; Wan-Bissaka 6, Todibo 5, Kilman 6, Emerson 6; Paqueta 6 (Alvarez 65), Soucek 6 (Soler 65), Rodriguez 5 (Mavropanos 70); Bowen 7, Antonio 5 (Summerville 65), Kudus 6.
Referee: Andrew Madley 8.