metal

met-al · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    A solid material that is typically hard, shiny, malleable, and a good conductor of heat and electricity.

  2. 2.

    (Music) Short for heavy metal, a genre of rock music characterized by loud, distorted guitars and aggressive vocals.

  3. 3.

    The material used to make railroad tracks.

  4. 4.

    Made of or relating to metal.

Forms

plural: metals

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    heavy metal — a genre of loud rock music; also, toxic metals like lead and mercury
  • •
    metal detector — a device for finding metal objects
  • •
    put the pedal to the metal — to accelerate; to go as fast as possible

Related words

Antonyms: nonmetal
See also: alloy, iron, metallic, steel
Synonyms: ore

Etymology

From Old French metal, from Latin metallum ("metal, mine, quarry"), from Greek metallon ("mine, quarry, metal").