iron

For quotations using this term, see Citations:iron.

(uncountable) A common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when untarnished, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel: a chemical element having atomic number 26 and symbol Fe.

wrought iron, ductile iron, cast iron, pig iron, gray iron

(uncountable, countable, metallurgy) Any material, not a steel, predominantly made of elemental iron.

(countable) A tool or appliance made of metal, which is heated and then used to transfer heat to something else; most often a thick piece of metal fitted with a handle and having a flat, roughly triangular bottom, which is heated and used to press wrinkles from clothing, and now usually containing an electrical heating apparatus.

(usually in the plural, irons) Shackles.

Ah, throw that old iron over here! We'll pick it up and go on our way.

1948, John Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre:

the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip

1959, Marty Robbins (lyrics and music), “Big Iron”:

(slang) A firearm, either a long gun or a handgun.

(uncountable) A dark shade of the color silver.

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang

(countable, Cockney rhyming slang, offensive, shortened from iron hoof, rhyming with poof) A male homosexual.

shortened from iron hoof; rhyming with poof; shortened from iron hoof; rhyming with poof

The brassey much resembled the driver, but the iron opened out quite a new field of practice; […]

1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:

(golf) A golf club used for middle-distance shots.

ironman; a will of iron

He appeared easygoing, but inside he was pure iron.

(uncountable, figurative) Used as a symbol of great strength or toughness, or to signify a very strong or tough material.

He lifts iron on the weekends.

(weightlifting) Weight used as resistance for the purpose of strength training.

Irons and stony irons can be much larger than stony meteorites and are much more visually striking, but make up only a few percent of all meteorites.

(countable, astronomy, geology) A meteorite consisting primarily of metallic iron (mixed with a small amount of nickel), as opposed to one composed mainly of stony material.

(military, slang) Dumb bombs, those without guidance systems.

en-noun

iron (countable and uncountable, plural irons)

From Middle English iren, from Old English īsern, īsærn, īren, īsen, from Proto-West Germanic *īsarn, from Proto-Germanic *īsarną (“iron”), from Proto-Celtic *īsarnom (“iron”), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”).


iron

(not comparable) Made of the metal iron.

She had an iron will.

He held on with an iron grip.

an iron constitution

Iron men

[…]the fruit-garden, where every tree and walk had a remembrance—those iron links of affection.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 201:

The faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no hope from the gods.

1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 64:

And it is symptomatic of the many paradoxes of Lederer's life that of all the people in the room, Brotherhood is the one whom he would most wish to serve, if ever he had the opportunity, even though — or perhaps because — his occasional efforts to ingratiate himself with his adopted hero have met with iron rebuff.

But in her speech, Truss said she would exert an “iron discipline” over public spending, hinting at possible austerity to come. “I believe in sound money and a lean state,” she said.

2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, quoting Liz Truss, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian:

(figuratively) Strong (as of will), inflexible.


iron

You'd be wise to iron that shirt before you wear it.

Out of that tub had come the day before - Tess felt it with a dreadful sting of remorse - the very white frock upon her back which she had so carelessly greened about the skirt on the damping grass - which had been wrung up and ironed by her mother's own hands.

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 30:

(transitive) To pass an iron over (clothing or some other item made of cloth) in order to remove creases.

They were washing and ironing all morning.

(intransitive) To engage in such pressing of clothing.

[...] is it he who is ironed like a malefactor—who is to be dragged on a hurdle to the common gallows—to die a lingering and cruel death, and to be mangled by the hand of the most outcast of wretches?

(transitive, archaic) To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff.

to iron a wagon

(transitive) To furnish, clad, or arm with iron.

en-verb

iron (third-person singular simple present irons, present participle ironing, simple past and past participle ironed)

irons (present singular third-person)
ironing (participle present)
ironed (participle past)
ironed (past)

→ Japanese: アイロン (airon)