| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| iron |
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| SYLLABICATION: | i·ron |
| PRONUNCIATION: |     rn |
| NOUN: | 1. Symbol Fe 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. An implement made of iron alloy or similar metal, especially a bar heated for use in branding, curling hair, or cauterizing. 3. Great hardness or strength; firmness: a will of iron. 4. Sports Any of a series of golf clubs having a bladelike metal head and numbered from one to nine in order of increasing loft. 5. A metal appliance with a handle and a weighted flat bottom, used when heated to press wrinkles from fabric. 6. A harpoon. 7. irons Fetters; shackles. 8. A tonic, pill, or other medication containing iron and taken as a dietary supplement. | | ADJECTIVE: | 1. Made of or containing iron: iron bars; an iron alloy. 2. Strong, healthy, and capable of great endurance: an iron constitution. 3. Inflexible; unyielding: iron resolve. 4. Holding tightly; very firm: has an iron grip. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: i·roned, i·ron·ing, i·rons
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1a. To press and smooth with a heated iron: iron clothes. b. To remove (creases) by pressing. 2. To put into irons; fetter. 3. To fit or clad with iron. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To iron clothes. | | PHRASAL VERB: | iron out To settle through discussion or compromise; work out. | | IDIOMS: | in irons Nautical Lying head to the wind and unable to turn either way. iron in the fire An undertaking or project in progress: has many irons in the fire this year. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English iren, from Old English ren. See eis- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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