n.
- (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.
- An implement made of iron alloy or similar metal, especially a bar heated for use in branding, curling hair, or cauterizing.
- Great hardness or strength; firmness: a will of iron.
- Sports. Any of a series of golf clubs having a bladelike metal head and numbered from one to nine in order of increasing loft.
- A metal appliance with a handle and a weighted flat bottom, used when heated to press wrinkles from fabric.
- A harpoon.
- irons Fetters; shackles.
- A tonic, pill, or other medication containing iron and taken as a dietary supplement.
- Made of or containing iron: iron bars; an iron alloy.
- Strong, healthy, and capable of great endurance: an iron constitution.
- Inflexible; unyielding: iron resolve.
- Holding tightly; very firm: has an iron grip.
v., i·roned, i·ron·ing, i·rons. v.tr.
- To press and smooth with a heated iron: iron clothes.
- To remove (creases) by pressing.
- To put into irons; fetter.
- To fit or clad with iron.
To iron clothes.
phrasal verb:
iron out
- To settle through discussion or compromise; work out.
in irons Nautical.
- Lying head to the wind and unable to turn either way.
- An undertaking or project in progress: has many irons in the fire this year.
[Middle English iren, from Old English īren.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
