Iron,

15 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Iron \I"ron\ ([imac]"[u^]rn), n. [OE. iren, AS. [imac]ren,
     [imac]sen, [imac]sern; akin to D. ijzer, OS. [imac]sarn, OHG.
     [imac]sarn, [imac]san, G. eisen, Icel. [imac]sarn, j[=a]rn,
     Sw. & Dan. jern, and perh. to E. ice; cf. Ir. iarann, W.
     haiarn, Armor. houarn.]
     [1913 Webster]


     1. (Chem.) The most common and most useful metallic element,
        being of almost universal occurrence, usually in the form
        of an oxide (as hematite, magnetite, etc.), or a hydrous
        oxide (as limonite, turgite, etc.). It is reduced on an
        enormous scale in three principal forms; viz., {cast
        iron}, steel, and {wrought iron}. Iron usually appears
        dark brown, from oxidation or impurity, but when pure, or
        on a fresh surface, is a gray or white metal. It is easily
        oxidized (rusted) by moisture, and is attacked by many
        corrosive agents. Symbol Fe (Latin Ferrum). Atomic number
        26, atomic weight 55.847. Specific gravity, pure iron,
        7.86; cast iron, 7.1. In magnetic properties, it is
        superior to all other substances.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The value of iron is largely due to the facility with
           which it can be worked. Thus, when heated it is
           malleable and ductile, and can be easily welded and
           forged at a high temperature. As cast iron, it is
           easily fusible; as steel, is very tough, and (when
           tempered) very hard and elastic. Chemically, iron is
           grouped with cobalt and nickel. Steel is a variety of
           iron containing more carbon than wrought iron, but less
           that cast iron. It is made either from wrought iron, by
           roasting in a packing of carbon (cementation) or from
           cast iron, by burning off the impurities in a Bessemer
           converter (then called Bessemer steel), or directly
           from the iron ore (as in the Siemens rotatory and
           generating furnace).
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An instrument or utensil made of iron; -- chiefly in
        composition; as, a flatiron, a smoothing iron, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My young soldier, put up your iron.   --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. pl. Fetters; chains; handcuffs; manacles.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.
                                                    --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Strength; power; firmness; inflexibility; as, to rule with
        a rod of iron.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Golf) An iron-headed club with a deep face, chiefly used
        in making approaches, lifting a ball over hazards, etc.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     {Bar iron}. See {Wrought iron} (below).
  
     {Bog iron}, bog ore; limonite. See {Bog ore}, under {Bog}.
  
     {Cast iron} (Metal.), an impure variety of iron, containing
        from three to six percent of carbon, part of which is
        united with a part of the iron, as a carbide, and the rest
        is uncombined, as graphite. It there is little free
        carbon, the product is {white iron}; if much of the carbon
        has separated as graphite, it is called {gray iron}. See
        also {Cast iron}, in the Vocabulary.
  
     {Fire irons}. See under {Fire}, n.
  
     {Gray irons}. See under {Fire}, n.
  
     {Gray iron}. See {Cast iron} (above).
  
     {It irons} (Naut.), said of a sailing vessel, when, in
        tacking, she comes up head to the wind and will not fill
        away on either tack.
  
     {Magnetic iron}. See {Magnetite}.
  
     {Malleable iron} (Metal.), iron sufficiently pure or soft to
        be capable of extension under the hammer; also, specif., a
        kind of iron produced by removing a portion of the carbon
        or other impurities from cast iron, rendering it less
        brittle, and to some extent malleable.
  
     {Meteoric iron} (Chem.), iron forming a large, and often the
        chief, ingredient of meteorites. It invariably contains a
        small amount of nickel and cobalt. Cf. {Meteorite}.
  
     {Pig iron}, the form in which cast iron is made at the blast
        furnace, being run into molds, called pigs.
  
     {Reduced iron}. See under {Reduced}.
  
     {Specular iron}. See {Hematite}.
  
     {Too many irons in the fire}, too many objects or tasks
        requiring the attention at once.
  
     {White iron}. See {Cast iron} (above).
  
     {Wrought iron} (Metal.), the purest form of iron commonly
        known in the arts, containing only about half of one per
        cent of carbon. It is made either directly from the ore,
        as in the Catalan forge or bloomery, or by purifying
        (puddling) cast iron in a reverberatory furnace or
        refinery. It is tough, malleable, and ductile. When formed
        into bars, it is called {bar iron}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Iron \I"ron\ ([imac]"[u^]rn), a. [AS. [imac]ren, [imac]sen. See
     {Iron}, n.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Of, or made of iron; consisting of iron; as, an iron bar,
        dust.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Resembling iron in color; as, iron blackness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Like iron in hardness, strength, impenetrability, power of
        endurance, insensibility, etc.; as:
        (a) Rude; hard; harsh; severe.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  Iron years of wars and dangers.   --Rowe.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  Jove crushed the nations with an iron rod.
                                                    --Pope.
        (b) Firm; robust; enduring; as, an iron constitution.
        (c) Inflexible; unrelenting; as, an iron will.
        (d) Not to be broken; holding or binding fast; tenacious.
            "Him death's iron sleep oppressed." --Philips.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Iron is often used in composition, denoting made of
           iron, relating to iron, of or with iron; producing
           iron, etc.; resembling iron, literally or figuratively,
           in some of its properties or characteristics; as,
           iron-shod, iron-sheathed, iron-fisted, iron-framed,
           iron-handed, iron-hearted, iron foundry or
           iron-foundry.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Iron age}.
        (a) (Myth.) The age following the golden, silver, and
            bronze ages, and characterized by a general
            degeneration of talent and virtue, and of literary
            excellence. In Roman literature the Iron Age is
            commonly regarded as beginning after the taking of
            Rome by the Goths, A. D. 410.
        (b) (Arch[ae]ol.) That stage in the development of any
            people characterized by the use of iron implements in
            the place of the more cumbrous stone and bronze.
  
     {Iron cement}, a cement for joints, composed of cast-iron
        borings or filings, sal ammoniac, etc.
  
     {Iron clay} (Min.), a yellowish clay containing a large
        proportion of an ore of iron.
  
     {Iron cross}, a German, and before that Prussian, order of
        military merit; also, the decoration of the order.
  
     {Iron crown}, a golden crown set with jewels, belonging
        originally to the Lombard kings, and indicating the
        dominion of Italy. It was so called from containing a
        circle said to have been forged from one of the nails in
        the cross of Christ.
  
     {Iron flint} (Min.), an opaque, flintlike, ferruginous
        variety of quartz.
  
     {Iron founder}, a maker of iron castings.
  
     {Iron foundry}, the place where iron castings are made.
  
     {Iron furnace}, a furnace for reducing iron from the ore, or
        for melting iron for castings, etc.; a forge; a
        reverberatory; a bloomery.
  
     {Iron glance} (Min.), hematite.
  
     {Iron hat}, a headpiece of iron or steel, shaped like a hat
        with a broad brim, and used as armor during the Middle
        Ages.
  
     {Iron horse}, a locomotive engine. [Colloq.]
  
     {Iron liquor}, a solution of an iron salt, used as a mordant
        by dyers.
  
     {Iron man} (Cotton Manuf.), a name for the self-acting
        spinning mule.
  
     {Iron mold} or {Iron mould}, a yellow spot on cloth stained
        by rusty iron.
  
     {Iron ore} (Min.), any native compound of iron from which the
        metal may be profitably extracted. The principal ores are
        magnetite, hematite, siderite, limonite, G["o]thite,
        turgite, and the bog and clay iron ores.
  
     {Iron pyrites} (Min.), common pyrites, or pyrite. See
        {Pyrites}.
  
     {Iron sand}, an iron ore in grains, usually the magnetic iron
        ore, formerly used to sand paper after writing.
  
     {Iron scale}, the thin film which forms on the surface of
        wrought iron in the process of forging. It consists
        essentially of the magnetic oxide of iron, {Fe3O4}.
  
     {Iron works}, a furnace where iron is smelted, or a forge,
        rolling mill, or foundry, where it is made into heavy
        work, such as shafting, rails, cannon, merchant bar, etc.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Iron \I"ron\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ironed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Ironing}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To smooth with an instrument of iron; especially, to
        smooth, as cloth, with a heated flatiron; -- sometimes
        used with out.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To shackle with irons; to fetter or handcuff. "Ironed like
        a malefactor." --Sir W. Scott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To furnish or arm with iron; as, to iron a wagon.
  
     {iron out differences} resolve differences; settle a dispute.
        [PJC] Ironbark

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Irony \I"ron*y\, a. [From {Iron}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Made or consisting of iron; partaking of iron; iron; as,
        irony chains; irony particles; -- In this sense {iron} is
        the more common term. [R.] --Woodward.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     2. Resembling iron in taste, hardness, or other physical
        property.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  iron
       adj : extremely robust; "an iron constitution" [syn: {cast-iron}]
       n 1: a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white
            in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and
            tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of
            oxygen by the blood [syn: {Fe}, {atomic number 26}]
       2: a golf club that has a relatively narrow metal head
       3: metal shackles; for hands or legs [syn: {irons}, {chain}, {chains}]
       4: implement used to brand live stock [syn: {branding iron}]
       5: home appliance consisting of a flat metal base that is
          heated and used to smooth cloth [syn: {smoothing iron}]
       v : press and smooth with a heated iron; "press your shirts"
           [syn: {iron out}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  240 Moby Thesaurus words for "iron":
     Gibraltar, Oregon boat, adamant, adamantine, aluminum, americium,
     aureate, barium, beryllium, bicycle, bike, bilbo, bismuth, bond,
     bonds, bone, brass, brassy, brazen, brick, bridle, bronze, bronzy,
     buff, buffer, cadmium, calcium, calender, camisole, cast-iron,
     cement, cerium, cesium, chains, chamois, chopper, chrome, chromium,
     cobalt, collar, concrete, copper, coppery, cuffs, cupreous,
     cuprous, cycle, diamond, dour, drag, dysprosium, erbium, europium,
     ferrous, ferruginous, fetter, fetters, firm, flint, flinty,
     fundamentalist, gadolinium, gag, gallium, germanium, gilt, glazer,
     gold, gold-filled, gold-plated, golden, goose, grader, granite,
     grim, gyves, halter, hamper, handcuffs, hard, hard-core, harrow,
     heart of oak, hidebound, hobbles, holmium, hopples, horse,
     hot-press, immovable, immutable, implacable, impliable, indium,
     inelastic, inexorable, inflexible, intransigent, iridium,
     ironbound, ironclad, ironhanded, ironlike, irons, irreconcilable,
     lanthanum, lead, leaden, leading strings, leash, lion, lithium,
     lutetium, magnesia, magnesium, manacle, manganese, mangle, marble,
     mercurial, mercurous, mercury, minibike, molybdenum, motocycle,
     motorbike, motorcycle, muscle-bound, muzzle, nails, neodymium,
     nickel, nickelic, nickeline, niobium, oak, obdurate, obstinate,
     orthodox, osmium, ox, palladium, pedicab, pewter, pewtery,
     phosphorus, pig, pillory, plane, platinum, polisher, polonium,
     potassium, praseodymium, press, procrustean, promethium,
     protactinium, purist, puristic, puritan, puritanic, quicksilver,
     radium, reins, relentless, restraint, restraints, rhenium, rigid,
     rigorist, rigoristic, rigorous, road-bike, rock, rock-ribbed,
     rockbound, roll, roller, rolling pin, rubidium, ruthenium,
     samarium, sander, scandium, shackle, silver, silver-plated,
     silvery, sodium, steamroller, steel, steely, stern, stiff, stocks,
     stone, straightjacket, straightlaced, strait-waistcoat,
     straitjacket, straitlaced, stranglehold, strontium, stubborn,
     tantalum, technetium, terbium, tether, thallium, thulium, tin,
     tinny, titanium, trail bike, trammel, trammels, tricycle, trike,
     trowel, tungsten, unaffected, unalterable, unbending, unchangeable,
     uncompromising, ungiving, unmoved, unrelenting, unyielding,
     uranium, vanadium, wheel, wolfram, wringer, yoke, ytterbium,
     yttrium, zinc, zirconium
  
  

From Elements database 20001107 [elements]:

  iron
  Symbol: Fe
  Atomic number: 26
  Atomic weight: 55.847
  Silvery malleable and ductile metallic transition element. Has nine
  isotopes and is the fourth most abundant element in the earth's crust.
  Required by living organisms as a trace element (used in hemoglobin in
  humans.) Quite reactive, oxidizes in moist air, displaces hydrogen from
  dilute acids and combines with nonmetallic elements.
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  iron n. Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of {mainframe}
     class with big metal cabinets housing relatively low-density electronics
     (but the term is also used of modern supercomputers). Often in the
     phrase {big iron}. Oppose {silicon}. See also {dinosaur}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  iron
       
          Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of {mainframe}
          class with big metal cabinets housing relatively low-density
          electronics (but the term is also used of modern
          {supercomputer}s).  Often in the phrase {big iron}.  Oppose
          {silicon}.
       
          See also {dinosaur}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1994-11-04)
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Iron
     Tubal-Cain is the first-mentioned worker in iron (Gen. 4:22).
     The Egyptians wrought it at Sinai before the Exodus. David
     prepared it in great abundance for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3:
     29:7). The merchants of Dan and Javan brought it to the market
     of Tyre (Ezek. 27:19). Various instruments are mentioned as made
     of iron (Deut. 27:5; 19:5; Josh. 17:16, 18; 1 Sam. 17:7; 2 Sam.
     12:31; 2 Kings 6:5, 6; 1 Chr. 22:3; Isa. 10:34).
     
       Figuratively, a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48) denotes hard
     service; a rod of iron (Ps. 2:9), a stern government; a pillar
     of iron (Jer. 1:18), a strong support; a furnace of iron (Deut.
     4:20), severe labour; a bar of iron (Job 40:18), strength;
     fetters of iron (Ps. 107:10), affliction; giving silver for iron
     (Isa. 60:17), prosperity.
     

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  Iron, MN
    Zip code(s): 55751

From U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000) [gaz-county]:

  Iron -- U.S. County in Michigan
     Population (2000):    13138
     Housing Units (2000): 8772
     Land area (2000):     1166.355280 sq. miles (3020.846180 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    44.665114 sq. miles (115.682109 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    1211.020394 sq. miles (3136.528289 sq. km)
     Located within:       Michigan (MI), FIPS 26
     Location:             46.196152 N, 88.561747 W
     Headwords:
      Iron
      Iron, MI
      Iron County
      Iron County, MI
  

From U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000) [gaz-county]:

  Iron -- U.S. County in Missouri
     Population (2000):    10697
     Housing Units (2000): 4907
     Land area (2000):     551.339034 sq. miles (1427.961482 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.713741 sq. miles (1.848581 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    552.052775 sq. miles (1429.810063 sq. km)
     Located within:       Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
     Location:             37.539303 N, 90.743905 W
     Headwords:
      Iron
      Iron, MO
      Iron County
      Iron County, MO
  

From U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000) [gaz-county]:

  Iron -- U.S. County in Utah
     Population (2000):    33779
     Housing Units (2000): 13618
     Land area (2000):     3297.975636 sq. miles (8541.717322 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    3.865699 sq. miles (10.012113 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    3301.841335 sq. miles (8551.729435 sq. km)
     Located within:       Utah (UT), FIPS 49
     Location:             37.784276 N, 113.227675 W
     Headwords:
      Iron
      Iron, UT
      Iron County
      Iron County, UT
  

From U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000) [gaz-county]:

  Iron -- U.S. County in Wisconsin
     Population (2000):    6861
     Housing Units (2000): 5706
     Land area (2000):     757.232077 sq. miles (1961.221992 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    162.006563 sq. miles (419.595054 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    919.238640 sq. miles (2380.817046 sq. km)
     Located within:       Wisconsin (WI), FIPS 55
     Location:             46.283595 N, 90.203904 W
     Headwords:
      Iron
      Iron, WI
      Iron County
      Iron County, WI