Metal
['met(ə)l] or ['mɛtl]
Definition
(n.) An elementary substance, as sodium, calcium, or copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or metalloids. No sharp line can be drawn between the metals and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid and basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc.
(n.) Ore from which a metal is derived; -- so called by miners.
(n.) A mine from which ores are taken.
(n.) The substance of which anything is made; material; hence, constitutional disposition; character; temper.
(n.) Courage; spirit; mettle. See Mettle.
(n.) The broken stone used in macadamizing roads and ballasting railroads.
(n.) The effective power or caliber of guns carried by a vessel of war.
(n.) Glass in a state of fusion.
(n.) The rails of a railroad.
(v. t.) To cover with metal; as, to metal a ship's bottom; to metal a road.
Checker: Willa
Definition
n. an opaque substance possessing a peculiar lustre fusibility conductivity for heat and electricity &c. such as gold &c.: courage or spirit (now spelt mettle): intrinsic quality: the number and power of guns carried by a ship-of-war: broken stones used for macadamised roads: (pl.) the rails of a railroad.—v.t. to put metal on as a road.—n. Metalic′ity.—adjs. Met′alled covered with metal as a road; Metal′lic pertaining to or like a metal: consisting of metal.—adv. Metal′lically.—adjs. Metallif′erous producing or yielding metals; Metal′liform having the form of metals: like metal; Met′alline pertaining to a metal: consisting of or mixed with metal.—ns. Met′alling road-metal broken stones; Metallisā′tion.—v.t. Met′allise to form into metal: to give to a substance its metallic properties.—ns. Met′allist a worker in metals: one who is skilled in metals: an advocate of the use of metal as currency; Metal′lograph a print produced by metallographic process.—adj. Metallograph′ic—ns. Metallog′raphist; Metallog′raphy an account or description of metals: a process for utilising metal plates in a manner similar to lithographic stones: a process of imitating the grain of wood on metals; Met′alloid one of the metallic bases of the fixed alkalies and alkaline earths: any of the elements which are non-metallic in the chemical sense of being able to replace hydrogen in an acid and thus forming a salt: one of the inflammable non-metallic elements (sulphur phosphorus &c.).—adjs. Met′alloid Metalloid′al pertaining to or of the nature of the metalloids.—ns. Metal′lophone a kind of piano having graduated metal bars in place of strings: a musical instrument differing from the xylophone in having metal instead of wooden bars; Met′allotherapy the treatment of disease by the external application of metals.—Metallic oxide a compound of metal and oxygen; Metallic salts salts having a metal or metallic oxide for base.—Base metals lead zinc copper iron; Fusible metal a metallic alloy that fuses at a very low temperature—usually of lead tin and bismuth; Light metals those whose specific gravity is less than 5; Noble or Perfect metals gold silver platinum so called because they keep their lustre when exposed to the air.
Checked by Aron
Examples
- The most efficient form of water motor is the turbine, a strong metal wheel shaped somewhat like a pin wheel, inclosed in a heavy metal case. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Though he wore the metal of Zodanga, my Jeddak, such a man was never seen before in this or any other country upon Barsoom. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- To provide a metal which should be at once stronger and safer than any which had been used before. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- To this plunger is attached a weighted case filled with one or many tons of metal or other coarse material. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- He opened a drawer and took out a bit of metal. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Wires from the coil terminate on metal disks and are securely soldered there. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- It was a machine mounted on two wheels, that had a seed box in the bottom of which was a series of holes opening into a corresponding number of metal tubes or funnels. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- They are put together with a double-lapped spiral seam to give expansion-resisting qualities, and as an additional precaution small metal rings are slipped on the outside. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Machines with fine metal card teeth are now largely used for this purpose, and of which the planetary napping machine of Ott, patent No. 344,981, July 6, 1886, is an example. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The opaque parts, through which no light has penetrated, leave the solution soft on the surface of the metal. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- A fire extinguisher is a metal case containing a solution of bicarbonate of soda, and a glass vessel full of strong sulphuric acid. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Gold is seldom used for any purpose in a state of perfect purity on account of its softness, but is combined with some other metal to render it harder. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- For safety's sake, all oily cloths should be burned or kept in metal vessels. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Not up, I replied, for I noticed particularly that while the building is roofless it is covered with a strong metal grating. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- You may count my metal among your fighting-men, John Carter, he said. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- But there is a decided grouping of valuable metals, and these can then be readily separated by means of electricity. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- In the coin of some countries, the value of the two metals is nearly equal. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Volta of Pavia, took decided issue with Galvani and maintained that the pretended animal electricity was nothing but electricity developed by the contact of two different metals. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- To charge that the various activities of gardening, weaving, construction in wood, manipulation of metals, cooking, etc. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- If two dissimilar metals could be decomposed and power at the same time produced they contended that practical work might be done with the force. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- They are called the two fluid batteries, because in place of a single acidulated bath in which the dissimilar metals were before placed, two different liquid solutions were employed. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Some of the new metals discovered in the last century have in this century been combined with iron to make harder steel. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Yet it was used abundantly, and there was a steady flow of the precious metals eastward in exchange. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- A considerable quantity, too, must be annually lost in transporting those metals from one place to another both by sea and by land. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- A fuse is made by combining a number of metals in such a way that the resulting substance has a low melting point and a high electrical resistance. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru used the process of fixing two metals together by the action of heat, before making up. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It seems strange, now, on observing the extensive use that is made of the deposition of metals, that it should have remained so long unapplied after the principle had been known. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Their highest price, however, seems not to be necessarily determined by any thing but the actual scarcity or plenty of these metals themselves. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Those metals are said to have become more abundant in America, since the suppression of some of their paper currencies. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- From this phenomenon, the chemical action of acids upon metals and the production of an electric current were observed, and the voltaic pile was invented. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Edited by Kathleen