iron

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Harde as the iron were the menne of mighte, 205

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Definitions (129)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (20)

  1. noun A silvery-white, lustrous, malleable, ductile, magnetic or magnetizable, metallic element occurring abundantly in combined forms, notably in hematite, limonite, magnetite, and taconite, and used alloyed in a wide range of important structural materials. Atomic number 26; atomic weight 55.845; melting point 1,535°C; boiling point 2,750°C; specific gravity 7.874 (at 20°C); valence 2, 3, 4, 6. See Table at element.
  2. noun An implement made of iron alloy or similar metal, especially a bar heated for use in branding, curling hair, or cauterizing.
  3. noun Great hardness or strength; firmness: a will of iron.

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Examples (50)

  • The presence of the iron was a crawling sensation, as if stinging ants swarmed over his entire body I assessed our chances. —  Robin Hobb
  • As soon as he entered the chambers, he threw off what he called his iron-bound coat; and, putting himself at ease in a dressing gown, passed the remainder of the day in talking over all that had befallen them since they parted on the shore of the River St. Lawrence CHAPTER II. —  The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson
  • "The recent pull back in Chinese iron ore prices has made some take profits, but we feel momentum could build again from here," the broker said.
  • "It was definitely nicer than a 3-iron or 2-iron, as I've had sometimes." —  Edmonton Sun
  • Silesian coal-miner New World Resources is to take a 25\% shareholding in Ukrainian iron ore producer, Ferrexpo.
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

metal ·  brass ·  stone ·  plastic ·  glass ·  leather ·  wooden ·  tin ·  wire ·  ice ·  lead ·  crystal

Used in the same contextWord Family

iron:   irons ·  ironing ·  ironed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English iren, from Old English īren; see eis- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. I. n. Early modern English also yron; from Middle English iron, iren, yron, yren, irne, yrne, also, with loss of formative -n (regarded apparently as inflectional), ire, yre (see ire), from Anglo-Saxon iren, older īsen (later early Middle English īzen) = Middle Low German īsen = Old High German īsan, īsen, Middle High German īsen, German eisen; later form (with termination -ern reduced to -en) of Anglo-Saxon īsern = Old Saxon īsarn = OFries. īsern, īser, irsen, irser, NFries. irsen = Dutch ijzer = Middle Low German īsern = Old High German īsarn, Middle High German īsern, īser = Icelandic īsarn, later contr. jārn = Danish Swedish jern = Gothic (Moesogothic) eisarn, iron, = Irish iaran, iarun = Gaelic iarunn = Welsh haiarn = Breton houarn, plural hern (whence ult. English harness, q. v.), iron; in Anglo-Saxon both noun and adjective, but in form adjective, and hence, it has been supposed, perhaps orig. as if ‘*icen,’ from īs, ice, in supposed ref. to the ‘glancing’ or ‘shining’ of polished iron, as in swords or knives; but this is very doubtful. See ice. For the change of orig. s to r, see rhotacism. II. a. from Middle English iron, iren, also irnen, yrnen, etc., from Anglo-Saxon īsen, also īsern, for orig. *īsernen (= Dutch ijzeren = Middle Low German īsern = Old High German īsarnīn, īsernīn, Middle High German īserīn, īsern, German eisern; also Old High German īsanīn, īsenīn, īsīn, Middle High German īsenīn, īsīn, German eisen (obsolete) = Gothic (Moesogothic) eisarneins), of iron, from īsern, n., iron, + -en ; the properly adjective form with reg. adjective suffix -en, partly reduced in Anglo-Saxon, etc., to the form of the noun.
  2. Not found in Middle English; cf. Anglo-Saxon īsenian, furnish or mount with iron (= Icelandic jārna, put in irons, mount with iron, shoe (a horse)), from īsen, iron: see iron, n.
 

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/ˈaɪərn/
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