any of a class of elementary substances, as gold, silver, or copper, all of which are crystalline when solid and many of which are characterized by opacity, ductility, conductivity, and a unique luster when freshly fractured.
Chemistry.
such a substance in its pure state, as distinguished from alloys.
an element yielding positively charged ions in aqueous solutions of its salts.
an alloy or mixture composed wholly or partly of such substances, as brass.
an object made of metal.
formative material; stuff.
Printing.
the state of being set in type.
molten glass in the pot or melting tank.
British. road metal.
to furnish or cover with metal.
British. to pave or surface (a road) with broken stone.
metallurgical.
metallurgy.
any of a number of chemical elements, such as iron or copper, that are often lustrous ductile solids, have basic oxides, form positive ions, and are good conductors of heat and electricity
an alloy, such as brass or steel, containing one or more of these elements
printing type made of metal
the substance of glass in a molten state or as the finished product
short for road metal
informal short for heavy metal
navy
the total weight of projectiles that can be shot by a ship's guns at any one time
the total weight or number of a ship's guns
Also called: heavy element. astronomy any element heavier than helium
heraldry gold or silver
(plural) the rails of a railway
to fit or cover with metal
to make or mend (a road) with road metal
metallurgical
metallurgy
Any of a large group of chemical elements, including iron, gold, copper, lead, and magnesium, that readily become cations and form ionic bonds, having relatively free valence electrons (electrons in the outer shells). Metals are generally good conductors of electricity because of the freedom of their valence electrons. Metals generally conduct heat well, and in solid form are relatively malleable and ductile compared to other solids. They are usually shiny and opaque. All metals except mercury are solid at room temperature.
An alloy, such as steel or bronze, made of two or more metals.
In astronomy, any atom except hydrogen and helium.
Small stones or gravel, mixed with tar to form tarmac for the surfacing of roads.
Most metallic elements are lustrous or colorful solids that are good conductors of heat and electricity, and readily form ionic bonds with other elements. Many of their properties are due to the fact that their outermost electrons, called valence electrons, are not tightly bound to the nucleus. For instance, most metals form ionic bonds easily because they readily give up valence electrons to other atoms, thereby becoming positive ions (cations). The electrical conductivity of metals also stems from the relative freedom of valence electrons. In a substance composed of metals, the atoms are in a virtual ”sea“ of valence electrons that readily jump from atom to atom in the presence of an electric potential, creating electric current. With the exception of hydrogen, which behaves like a metal only at very high pressures, the elements that appear in the left-hand column of the Periodic Table are called alkali metals. Alkali metals, such as sodium and potassium, have only one electron in their outermost shell, and are chemically very reactive. (Hydrogen is exceptional in that, although it is highly reactive, its other metallic properties are manifest only at very high pressures.) Metals farther toward the right side of the Periodic Table, such as tin and lead, have more electrons in their outermost shell, and are not as reactive. The somewhat reactive elements that fall between the two extremes are the transition elements, such as iron, copper, tungsten, and silver. In most atoms, inner electron shells must be maximally occupied by electrons before an outer shell will accept electrons, but many transition elements have electron gaps in the shell just inside the valence shell. This configuration leads to a wide variety of available energy levels for electrons to move about in, so in the presence of electromagnetic radiation such as light, a variety of frequencies are readily emitted or absorbed. Thus transition metals tend to be very colorful, and each contributes different colors to different compounds.
1250–1300; Middle English (< Old French ) < Latin metallum quarry, metal < Greek métallon mine, quarry, metal
Metal is a shiny, hard, solid material, such as iron or aluminum. If, when you smile, you flash a brilliant metal grin, it's probably because of your braces. The Greek root metallon originally meant quarry or mine, and later came to also mean metal. Silver jewelry is made of metal, and so are things like car engines and tin cans. The genre of rock music popularly known as metal gets its name from the heavy sound, especially of the guitar solo, played on electric guitars — made of metal.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I must have had a metal cup on. It glitched the ions in the air.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Rising demand for steel and aluminum and a 50% tariff on imported metal have handed domestic producers unprecedented pricing power this past year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
She didn’t know it yet, but all that was left of her camper was its frame; it’s burned, twisted metal was another casualty of the L.A. wildfires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Outside, they grabbed hold of a metal gate and waited for the shaking to stop.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even Chicago, which is full of metal buildings and concrete sidewalks, has green parks.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
"This is the first paper showing these non-equilibrium states that are retained in the metal. Right now, this chemical order is not something we're controlling for or paying attention to when we manufacture metals."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2025
“When it was the satanic panic, there was glam, heavy and black metal. There’s always a response to mainstream politics, and music is the pendulum swing in effect.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025
"Fedha is a popular, old Kuwaiti name that refers to silver, the metal. We always imagine robots to be silver and metallic in colour, so we combined the two," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2023
Because he’s skinny, “the only way they could make him strong enough was to print the puppet in metal. He’s a strong little guy, quite difficult to break. The animators loved animating him.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2023
"You have to have a lot of metal things for that," he said, "and we haven't got no metal. But we got a stick."
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
—Precious metals gained some momentum, with spot gold up 0.5% at $4,397.11 a troy ounce and spot silver advancing 1.5% to $65.63 a troy ounce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Its light showed almost no evidence of metals or elements other than hydrogen and helium.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Find insight on precious metals, U.S. tariffs on certain Canadian goods and more in the latest Market Talks covering basic materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Chlorides, which are abundant in seawater, are particularly aggressive toward many metals and can cause localized corrosion.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Columbus was searching for hardware—precious metals, silk, and spices—the sources of wealth in his day.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Coutu/Los Angeles and Jeanne Saddler/Washington, with other U.S. bureaus Frozen in bronze, the black infantrymen trudge forever forward, their rifles scraping the metaled sky.
From Time Magazine Archive
The hard soles of his shoes rapped loudly on the metaled road like a giant clock, and he made himself think about time, about his great hoard, the luxury of an unspent fortune.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
But here the horses beat a sharp rat-tat with metal shoes on a metaled road, and the rubber-tired wheels ran noiselessly.
From The Code of the Mountains by Charles Neville Buck
He rode about the city those days behind a team of spirited bays, whose glossy hides and metaled harness bespoke the watchful care of hostler and coachman.
From The Financier, a novel by Theodore Dreiser
The road that came out of the pines, formerly deeply rutted and sandy, was now metaled and approached the house in a graded curve.
From The Tyranny of Weakness by Paul Stahr
The Captain's Road, which links two droving inns, Tibbie Shiel's and Tushielaw, was one of the earliest metalled roads connecting the Ettrick and Yarrow valleys.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2022
Today we talk about capital cities and forums, as well as structures such as amphitheatres, basilicas, metalled roads, pavements and multi-storey apartment blocks because of the idea of the city that Rome bequeathed us.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 15, 2016
Down in the depths of the holloway, you could see neither metalled roads nor telegraph poles, nor even the most distant glimpses of the outsized golf balls of the early warning radar up on Fylingdales.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 19, 2013
In the backwater districts which Henry administered, servants took the place of the "water supply, sanitation, metalled roads, mechanical transport and shops of Western communities."
From Time Magazine Archive
I believe there are over one hundred miles of metalled roads in the capital and the suburbs, all due to untiring M. Doumer.
From A Wayfarer in China Impressions of a trip across West China and Mongolia by Elizabeth Kimball Kendall
There was a purring of wheels in the air and the staccato clatter of a horse's hoofs on the hard metaling of the pike.
From The Quickening by E. M. Ashe
The hand he had been holding behind him came to the front, clutching a stone snatched up from the metaling of the pike as he ran.
From The Quickening by E. M. Ashe
The terrier, he knew, had crossed the road, and there was something about this particular reach of metalling that tempted motorists to pass at the deuce of a pace.
From Anthony Lyveden by Dornford Yates
He swung off into the darkness, and a minute later Anthony heard his steps upon the metalling of the London road.
From Anthony Lyveden by Dornford Yates
It is the best ground of all, especially where the yellow or brown sands are overlaid by hard gravel, or by a natural metalling of trap and other stones.
From The Land of Midian — Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
We whipped through St. Jean de Luz, sang through Bidart, and hobbled over a fearful stretch of metalling into Bayonne….
From Jonah and Co. by Dornford Yates
It is not now recognisable as a road, but the steep banks at each side of it, and some bluish metalling in the shell holes, show that one once ran there.
From The Old Front Line by John Masefield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
