Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » metal

metal

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

The definition of metal is any of the elements with a positive electrical charge, typically with a shiny surface and a good conductor of heat.

(noun)

An example of metal is gold.

See metal in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

1. any of a class of chemical elements, as iron, gold, or aluminum, generally characterized by ductility, malleability, luster, and conductivity of heat and electricity: these elements act as cations in chemical reactions, form bases with the hydroxyl radical, and can replace the hydrogen of an acid to form a salt
2. an alloy of such elements, as brass or bronze
any substance or thing consisting of metal
material or substance of which someone or something is made; stuff
molten cast iron
molten material for making glassware
heavy metal
Chiefly Brit. road metal
Heraldry either of the tinctures gold (or) and silver (argent)
Printing
1. type metal
2. composed type

Origin: OFr < L metallum, metal, mine, quarry < Gr metallon, mine, quarry

adjective

made of metal

transitive verb metaled or metalled, metaling or metalling

to cover or supply with metal

See metal in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

Abbr. M Any of a category of electropositive elements that usually have a shiny surface, are generally good conductors of heat and electricity, and can be melted or fused, hammered into thin sheets, or drawn into wires. Typical metals form salts with nonmetals, basic oxides with oxygen, and alloys with one another.
An alloy of two or more metallic elements.
An object made of metal.
Basic character; mettle.
Broken stones used for road surfaces or railroad beds.
Molten glass, especially when used in glassmaking.
Molten cast iron.
Printing Type made of metal.
Music Heavy metal.

transitive verb met·aled also met·alled, met·al·ing also met·al·ling, met·als also met·als

To cover or surface (a roadbed, for example) with broken stones.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Latin metallum

Origin: , from Greek metallon, mine, ore, metal

Word History: In modern English, metal and mettle are pronounced the same, and they are in fact all related. Middle English borrowed metal from Old French in the 14th century; Old French metal, metail, came from Latin metallum, from Greek metallon, “mine, quarry, ore, metal.” By the 16th century, metal had also come to mean “the stuff one is made of, one's character,” but there was no difference in spelling between the literal and figurative senses until about 1700, when the spelling mettle, originally just a variant of metal, was fixed for the sense “fortitude.” The history of English has numerous examples of pairs of words, like metal and mettle, that are (historically speaking) spelling variants of the same word; two other such pairs are trump/triumph and through/thorough.

Learn more about metal

metal synonyms

metal medical definition

metal science

metal in a sentence

metal quotes

link/cite print suggestion box